


Choices We Make (It'll Take)

by spelling_error



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alpha Tony Stark, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Bottom Bucky Barnes, Bucky Barnes Feels, Bucky Barnes Gets a Hug, Bucky Barnes Needs a Hug, Domestic Avengers, M/M, Mpreg, Not Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie) Compliant, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Not Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Compliant, Not Beta Read, Not Canon Compliant, Not Captain America: Civil War (Movie) Compliant, Omega Bucky Barnes, Parent Tony Stark, Past Bucky Barnes/Steve Rogers, Porn With Plot, Post-Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Pregnancy Kink, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Unplanned Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-17
Updated: 2020-05-16
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:15:31
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 56,887
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23694502
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spelling_error/pseuds/spelling_error
Summary: Bucky Barnes has a lot of regrets. Saving the Avengers' ally, Loki and earning himself a reward from the mischievous God of Lies counts pretty high on that list. Coincidentally, mating with Steve in an army tent counts pretty low on that same list, but not as low as falling in love with Tony Stark.In which Bucky and Steve made a regretful but necessary decision in 1934 (and again in 1943), and Bucky and Tony make a much better one in 2016.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Tony Stark
Comments: 147
Kudos: 688





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> Trigger Warning for self-induced miscarriage/abortion that's referenced throughout the story!!!!!!!!!
> 
> I've never posted anything on here before and I have no idea what I'm doing.
> 
> Everything after Captain America: the Winter Solider is dead to me right now, Tony Stark deserves a family and Bucky Barnes' pouting face gives me a horrible kind of inspiration.  
> Steve Rogers is a bit of a dick, but he's redeemed by the end and it's all good.

Bucky had a lot of regrets.

He was the Winter Soldier, after all.

Oddly enough, his top two biggest regrets had nothing to do with falling off a train and getting captured by Hydra, or even killing Howard and Maria Stark—though that last one was up there.

The runner up in big regrets in Bucky’s life was not an act of taking someone’s life—but rather was saving it.

Loki, the God of Lies and Chaos, was for all intents and purposes, an ally. Or so said SHIELD. 

The trickster was a great support in a fight against Amora a month ago, and had been many times before that. This most recent battle was a bit of a doozy, though and Bucky—on orders from Nick _fucking_ Fury, had saved the god from mortal peril.

Bucky was just doing his _job_.

Loki had thought that Bucky deserved a _reward_ for his service—since he had damaged his arm in the process.

Apparently, rewards from insane, immortal trickster gods took the shape of a _god damn curse_.

Thor had called it a helpful ‘spell’.

Bucky did not share that sentiment.

According to Thor, the ‘spell’ that Loki had cast was meant to help Bucky remedy his greatest regret in life.

A dangerous reward for someone like Bucky.

The Avengers, though no one said it, were on the look out for any signs of Bucky’s sudden compulsion to build a time machine and travel back to 1944 or something.

Weirdly, it took almost two weeks for Bucky himself to figure out what his own greatest regret was.

In a way, he almost wished it was as simple as falling off a train.

Bucky had woke from a nightmare in a cold sweat, stinking of panic and fear in the middle of the night beside Steve. His alpha, his mate, his best friend.

Steve reached instinctively to comfort the distressed omega at his side only for Bucky to _jolt_ away from the touch. Steve had made a confused and hurt sort of noise, and then Bucky had bolted.

He avoided Steve for nearly twenty-four hours, lost in the memory of this great regret.

The nightmare had in fact been a memory—though that was not uncommon for Bucky whose life had been a waking nightmare for seventy years. Unlike most of his nightmare-memories, this one was from _before_ the war.

Bucky in the dream had been shaking, tears rolling down his face. Steve’s hand a firm pressure between his shoulders—fingers cold and thin, not yet the strong and towering alpha he was today. Bucky was in pain, and he felt like he deserved it, and really, he did.

Steve tried to soothe him, telling him it was ‘okay’ and ‘for the best’ and Bucky—Bucky was leaning forward, away from the firm pressure of Steve’s hand and pressing his abdomen into the curved back of one of his ma’s kitchen chairs.

Pressing harder and harder, ‘till it wasn’t just his skin and the sharp bones of his hips that hurt, but his insides too.

He kept pressing, his whole being aching.

Steve kept saying it was ‘okay’ and shushing him.

Bucky kept crying.

They had only been kids. Bucky just turned seventeen, Steve not far behind. Bucky’s heats had finally become a consistent thing in the few months leading up to… that. So he had known, right away, that when he missed a heat it wasn’t because he was still young and his hormones wonky. He knew—and so had Steve.

Bucky was pregnant.

Of course, that hadn’t lasted long.

A quick fix, the kitchen chair had been.

No one but Steve and Bucky had known, and they were far more careful after that.

Too careful, on Steve’s part since the serum had later made him infertile.

It had been fine though. There was a war on. It wasn’t like they had time to worry about kids.

Bucky though… he knew he _often_ got ‘baby-fever’ and it was… not a problem exactly, since there was no more chance of an ‘accident’ should Bucky manage to convince his mate that knocking him up was a great idea mid-heat, and Steve’s infertility, that Bucky could smell, served as a sobering reminder anytime that his heat-addled mind tried to get the words out of his mouth.

Bucky knew that not keeping that baby had been a regret. A very big one.

He was still shocked to realize that it was the greatest one of all, though he really shouldn't have been.

And more than a little pissed off at Loki. His curse did nothing but bring up the painful reminder of what Bucky had lost, and what he could never find again.

The curse didn’t seem to understand that though.

It wasn’t until he was back in bed with Steve a few days later, the alpha fucking him gently and murmuring gentle endearments into his throat, and Bucky releasing a frankly ungodly amount of pheromones for someone not in heat, that he realized what was happening.

Thankfully, Steve being infertile and a bit oblivious anyway, hadn’t caught on.

Hadn’t noticed and was unaffected by Bucky trying to send his alpha into rut.

He thought maybe it was just a fluke—just his traumatized brain overreacting or something, but then Bucky found himself doing it again, and again, and again.

So, no compulsion to build a time machine. Instead, he was desperately trying to get his infertile mate to go into rut and put a baby in him.

Which sucked, but overall—wasn’t that bad. Steve physically couldn’t do it anyway, so it was fine. Bucky’s body would still try, and he would feel that compulsion to push Steve for _more, more, harder and forget the condom, Stevie it’s fine_ but otherwise nothing changed for a good two weeks more.

By then, they had all just accepted that Bucky must had already done something to break the ‘spell’ and just hadn’t noticed. Thor was skeptic, but it didn’t matter, Bucky was no longer under constant scrutiny.

He should have been though.

Because Tony Stark existed.

Steve was not Tony’s biggest fan—which was fair, since he was another alpha and the two were destined to butt heads, but Steve didn’t like a lot of other things about Tony, too. Steve even went as far as to tell Bucky to stay away from Tony when possible, which was unusual behaviour for Steve who was very respectful of omega rights and never told Bucky what to do expecting Bucky to listen.

Tony wasn’t a bad guy though—he was just an alpha. A bit less ‘omega’s are just like everyone else’ than Steve, but still very much ‘pro-omega rights’ and Stark Industries supported a ton of omega shelters throughout the city.

Tony treated all the Avengers pretty equally, but he did treat Bruce and Natasha a little differently. He touched them nearly constantly, scented them opening and obviously, left the lingering scent of ‘alpha’ on them as often as he could, and even sometimes let his voice take on that growly rumble of an alpha when herding the hulk where they needed him and to bring Bruce back at the end of a fight.

He wasn’t like that with Bucky of course. Bucky had a mate, though the bond was still suffering immensely after years apart and trauma. Tony and Bucky had come to terms with what had been done to Howard and Maria not long after Bucky joined the Avengers, and their relationship was pretty good. Tony flirted, fixed and upgraded Bucky’s arm, and Bucky laughed and rolled his eyes, reprimanding the other alpha for trying to stake his own claim every time Tony tried to replace the red star on Bucky’s shoulder with the Avengers symbol (once even the SI logo).

It was during one such arm-update that Bucky realized this spell thing was not as under control as he thought.

“Bucky, what are you doing?” Tony asked slowly, rolling away on his stool to look quizzically at the omega in front of him.

That’s when Bucky realized he was releasing pheromones again. Not the overwhelming amount he did with Steve, but still—it was pretty clear what his body was angling for.

“Shit—sorry. It’s probably my heat. You uh—you can finish with my arm and I’ll uh… go” Bucky stuttered, face flaming.

He hoped Tony would buy it. The alpha was pretty scent sensitive, and there was a chance he’d be able to tell the difference. Tony was able to pick up on Bruce and Nat’s scent if they even so much as thought about maybe having an emotion and Tony was within a thirty-foot radius. It was impressive and Bucky was actually surprised Tony hadn’t mentioned anything before—he could likely smell Bucky’s pheromones on Steve all the time now, and to anyone capable of scenting it, it was clearly the scent of a baby-crazy omega.

Tony pretty obviously did not buy it, but he let Bucky have it. “Alright, I’ll be quick” he said moving back to where he had been.

Bucky nodded.

“You could maybe _try_ and not smell like that though” Tony said a moment later, focused on the delicate tools he was using inside Bucky’s arm. His voice sounded light and casual, but a tiny bit rougher than normal.

“Fuck—sorry” Bucky breathed. He concentrated on the ironman suit in front of him, tried to catalogue pointless details to change his scent from ‘breed me’ to ‘bored and unimpressed’.

The problem was that Bucky _wasn’t_ going into heat. He didn’t smell like slick or arousal like he should. He was only producing pheromones meant to entice an alpha—meant to cause a rut. Sure, those often accompanied a heat, but they were separate and distinguishable to anyone with a nose like Tony.

“Something on your mind, Bucky?” Tony asked, a smirk in his tone that was still too deep to be normal for them.

Bucky’s face heated again. What could he say? Should he clarify he wasn’t trying to send _Tony_ into rut? Did he need to? Tony knew he was with Steve. Did Tony know Steve was infertile? He assumed so, since Bucky could tell from comparing their two scents. Tony’s was heavier, musky and strong—it sometimes was stronger than Steve’s even to Bucky after a battle and Tony was out of the suit. Tony’s scent now was beginning to change, a layer of arousal that should be concerning but really wasn’t. Bucky had scented desire on Tony before—has picked it up on a few omega’s that came and went in the tower over the last two years. He wouldn’t say he was familiar with it—but it felt familiar anyway.

_Now_ Bucky’s own scent was changing, and the tell-tale scent of arousal and slick that was missing from his ‘heat’ excuse was actually becoming present. He was so fucked. What was he _doing_? He was with Steve! How could he try and entice another alpha into… into… _Fuck_.

“I’m with Steve” He blurted out, squeezing his legs together.

Tony snorted a laugh, “Yeah, which one of us needs the reminder?” he said, confident as ever. He looked to be almost finished with the arm.

“Is Steve home? He’s going to be pissed if you go up there with my scent on you,” Tony said, removing a few of those delicate tools and rearranging the last of the wiring.

Bucky laughed at that, though it lacked humour, “Steve can’t smell fuck all anymore”.

Tony gave him a sympathetic look, “Clearly,” he said.

Tony moved to pick up something from the bench beside him, disturbing the air and giving Bucky a good whiff of Tony’s own pheromones—subtle, clearly trying to keep it in check, but still stronger than Steve’s.

The reason behind that was simple.

Tony was very much _not_ sterile.

Tony, if Bucky played his cards right, could go into rut right now and breed Bucky like he so desperately wanted. Bucky could have his baby, a precious little pup to look after—a reason to wake up, to keep himself safe, to leave the field.

Would the baby have Bucky’s eyes? Or Tony’s? What about the combination of the alpha’s tan skin and Bucky’s ghostly white... The pup would have big eyes and dark lashes, Bucky decided. Just like Tony. They both had such dark and thick hair, would their baby’s hair curl at the ends like Bucky’s did? The baby would obviously be a genius like their daddy, and Bucky could imagine the sweet, curious look they would have, waddling around Tony’s workshop looking for trouble.

“ _Bucky_ ” Tony hissed. “ _Stop it_ ” and there was a growl in his tone that made Bucky shiver all over.

Tony’s scent wasn’t subtle anymore.

“Oh god, I’m sorry Tony” Bucky whispered, “I’m not trying to—to make you… upset. I just—my hormones are weird and I—I’m sorry”.

Tony sighed, moving back to start closing the plates, “Just, get it under control, okay? I’m not like Steve, you’re going to send me into rut if you don’t stop”. And it should have sounded like a warning like Tony meant it to, or even maybe like a threat, but instead it scent a shiver of desire through his body and he felt the wet slick of his hole soaking his boxers.

Tony’s hands faltered—Bucky had never seen those hands be unsteady. The screwdriver fell to the floor.

“Are you _trying_ to send me into rut?” Tony asked incredulous and oh so aroused.

Bucky whimpered and squirmed in his seat, “No… not really. Yes? No! No, I’m not. You’re Tony. Not my alpha…”. The scattered nature of his thoughts becoming words with too much and too little meaning alongside their scents in the air.

He tried to steady himself, but when he looked up at Tony, the alphas eyes had turned completely red and it made him shudder all over again.

“I’m sorry—I just…” and he was enraptured by Tony again, those dark lashes—how pretty they would be… “you’d make really pretty babies,” Bucky’s stupid fucking mouth said out loud.

Tony’s scent spiked, but he moved even further away and blinked a few times to clear the alpha red from his eyes.

“I didn’t mean that!” Bucky said, gripping his hair trying to distract himself with pain. “I did sort of, I mean… You would, obviously you would… but not uh, not with _me_ or anything, but with someone else maybe someday”.

Tony actually laughed a little, “This is impressive baby-fever even for you, Bucky. Take this up with Steve though, since as you so eloquently put—I’m not your alpha”.

“You don’t need to be to knock me up”.

Bucky didn’t even realize he said it until Tony’s eyed bled red again.

“Bucky, you need to leave now. Bruce—Bruce can finish your arm, but you need… to not be here,” there was very little in Tony’s tone that leant itself to ‘human’. It was almost entirely animalistic and a deep growling rumble.

Bucky nodded and nearly ran out on the lab.

When the door slid shut behind him and he could finally breathe, the reality of the situation caught up fast.

He had sent Tony (or at least very nearly) into rut and asked him to get Bucky pregnant.

Bucky wreaked of alpha, of slick, arousal, of omega pheromones. He couldn’t go to Bruce to fix his arm—the other omega would _know_.

Instead, Bucky shoved the plates closed as best he could, bending a few until the wiring was no longer exposed, then he snuck into his and Steve’s apartment grabbed a garbage bag for his clothes and proceeded to scald the scent of horny alpha off his skin.

How was he going to face Tony again after that? How would he face Steve? Well, simply put—he wouldn’t face Steve—hence the garbage bag for his clothes. The blond would never know. Should he tell Tony what was going on? What was the alpha thinking now? What conclusions had his light-speed brain drawn after all that? Or was he busy, in rut and desperate to breed someone—coming into his own fist over and over trying to alleviate the need to fuck into an omega until it took, until the withering body below him was swollen with his release and plugged with his knot?

_Oh god_.

He was going to _kill_ Loki the next change he got.

He should tell Tony what was going on. But then the alpha would tell the others and Steve—jesus, what would he say? ‘It’s okay’ and ‘it’s for the best’ with his hand between Bucky’s shoulders as the pain grew and grew, bruising his insides?

He’d kill Loki slowly, he decided.


	2. Chapter Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bucky is tired, Steve is aggressive, Tony is surprisingly supportive. Bucky finally gets a chance to vent, and somehow he doesn't fall into irreparable pieces.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Steve is a royal dick in this, but he get's better.
> 
> I'm learning this as I go!
> 
> ***Trigger warning***: Steve and Bucky argue, Steve get's aggressive and tries to intimidate Bucky. Bucky tries to say it's okay because he's technically stronger than Steve, and could fight back if he needs to. Steve isn't intentionally threatening, but it still happens and it's unhealthy. People should always respect your personal space, 'no' is an important word in all relationships and it should never be ignored (unless that's your kink and you have safeword). Steve learns this the hard way, but he does learn.

Bucky was lucky, he didn’t have to worry about facing Tony about the incident in the lab. The alpha never sought Bucky out looking for an explanation and Bucky never offered him one.

Two days past and every time Steve tried to fuck him, Bucky was assaulted by the memory –not of Tony’s red alpha eyes, or their imaginary babies, but with the memory of Steve’s hand between his shoulders and that deep aching pain caused by the kitchen chair. Bucky kept waking up to the whisper of ‘it’s for the best’ only for Steve of the present to roll over, confused and sleepy and reaching out to rub Bucky’s back—continuing the nightmare all over again.

Bucky was relieved when the call to assemble came, though it came with the reminder that if he had a baby at home, he could stay behind instead of getting covered in gross, slimy oil from punching through doombots.

That second part also served as a reminder that Bucky had stupidly tried to put his arm back together the other day and forgotten to have Bruce make sure he did it right.

Apparently, he did not.

The plate he bent caught on something inside the doombot, coming loose and staying inside the thing when Bucky pulled his arm back out of its chest. He didn’t even notice the plate was missing until he went to do it again, and this time it was the wiring that got caught and pulled and broke when Bucky’s arm retreated.

Bucky had never consciously known pain quite like that. He’s sure it would be comparable to having lost his flesh arm, but he wasn’t awake when that happened.

He was sure as shit awake when this happened though.

The wires must have severed, because he felt like his arm was well… severed.

He wasn’t even aware he was screaming until Iron Man was there, pulling him out of the swarm of doombots to relative safety in an alleyway.

“Bucky! Bucky what’s wrong?” He was yelling, urgently, faceplate up and eyes wide with panic.

Bucky tried to breathe through the pain.

“Arm, arm—it hurts, it hurts!” Bucky thought he might be crying. It burned like scorching fire spreading through his entire left side, but it also felt like it wasn’t there at all.

“Make it stop, please, please make it stop! It hurts, Alpha please make it _stop. Please Alpha_ ” he was panting, half yelling, half moaning in pain.

He felt like he was burning up, the pain lighting up his body in the worst way imaginable. He should be unconscious, he knows. Tony always put him under if a wire needed to be cut—but this… this had to be _all_ the wires in his arm.

He hadn’t even noticed closing his eyes, but then something was straddling his chest and he opened them to see Tony out of the armour and trying to pin him still enough to get a look at the arm.

“ _Stop moving_ ” Tony growled out, the tone he used to herd the hulk and bring Bruce back. Bucky went limp.

The pain flared, Bucky screamed again, and then… then there was nothing. It was like the arm was gone completely… not exactly pleasant, but far better than the pain had been.

Tony was running his hands through Bucky’s hair, gently whispering assurances as his mind tried to reconcile with the sudden and abrupt nothingness that followed all that pain.

“Thanks…” Bucky managed to get out, still lying like a starfish in what appeared to be an alleyway.

Tony didn’t look very impressed. “You didn’t go to Bruce,” he said simply.

Bucky tried to shrug but couldn’t. The alpha was still sitting on his chest, had Bucky's flesh arm pinned under his shin and was putting a ton on weight on his metal shoulder joint—not that Bucky could feel it.

“Fancy yourself a mechanic, Barnes?” Tony asked, tone firm.

Bucky felt like he was being scolded, “No, Sir,” he lowered his gaze.

Tony released him from his hold, and when he did, an ache went from Bucky’s shoulder and across his back and down his spine, he winced.

Steve appeared at the mouth of the alley.

Tony stood sharply and the suit encased him once more. “His arm is out of commission, get him back to medical. I’ll take care of the rest of the bots” and his tone was flat, unlike the joking or teasing tone he usually had with Steve.

Both Alphas stared at each other, Steve looked _pissed_.

Bucky tried to sit up and get a better look at the stand off, but he hissed in pain and fell back. The arm was fucking heavy. That was enough to pull Steve’s attention to Bucky, and then Tony was flying away without a word and Steve was helping Bucky stand—equally as silent.

***

Bucky felt like he was in trouble with both alphas—though he had no idea what happened to make Steve angry, unless Tony had told him about what happened in the lab.

Steve seemed more pissed at Tony than Bucky though, so that couldn’t be it.

The two alphas kept sizing each other up, Steve looking ready to kill and Tony looking smug.

Bucky got through two days before he demanded Steve talk to him, the first in medical since he tore a muscle or ten when the arm spasmed, and the second in the lab with Tony, Steve, and Bruce while the two scientists reversed the damage he had done to the metal appendage.

They upgraded it with a kill switch.

Steve didn’t usually insist on being around for maintenance on the arm unless Bucky asked him to, and Bucky wasn’t super into Steve’s new ‘clingy and silent’ demeanour at all. To make it worse, Steve kept baring his teeth like a rabid dog at Tony—and both Tony and Bruce found it hilarious.

When Bucky did manage to corner Steve, muscles healed and two working arms, the explanation made him pale, his gut sinking. He didn’t feel guilty exactly, but definitely mortified.

“You called Stark ‘alpha’” Steve gritted out.

Bucky stared, disbelieving.

“I heard it over the comms. _Everyone_ heard it over the comms”.

Bucky still didn’t believe him, not until Jarvis pulled the audio file.

He heard his own pained moan, panting, hissing, and then “ _Alpha please make it stop. Please Alpha_ ”.

Without the context of Bucky’s arm having felt like it had been cut off, it sounded all kinds of wrong.

There wasn’t much he could say to undo what had been done, though he did try—apologizing, explaining the pain, whispering ‘alpha’ in Steve’s ear while they fucked. It took a few days, but then he was willing to forgive Bucky.

Not willing to forgive Tony though.

The two alphas were posturing like never before. It was driving Bucky insane. Mostly because Tony’s alpha scent was playing hell on Bucky’s… well baby-fever he supposed. Constant, never-ending baby-fever.

Every half-assed little growl Tony gave reminded Bucky of how close he’d come to driving Tony past the point of no return. It made him want to do it again.

“Steve, stop picking fights with Tony. He didn’t do anything” Bucky sighed, yet again.

“I’m not” Steve replied.

“You are, don’t be like this” Bucky argued.

They were in the communal kitchen; it was early in the morning (too early in Bucky’s opinion). Thanks to the two alphas posturing the night before, all Bucky could dream about was the weight of his swollen belly, tiny hands gripping his finger, and counting tiny toes. He was exhausted.

“He won’t stop looking at you—it’s all the time now. He should know not to touch what’s _mine_ ” Steve complained, more petulant than anything.

Bucky rolled his eyes, “Oh, so I’m suddenly ‘yours’ when someone else might want me?” He couldn’t help saying, a long-standing argument.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Steve said sharply, because he always did.

Bucky was so tired. He barely slept between those vivid dreams. The baby, the one he dreamt about, always had dark hair and warm skin… he tried not to think about what that meant.

“It means, you don’t seem to care about putting on the protective alpha front any other time. Just when there’s another alpha around who _is_ protective,” He snapped.

Steve made a face, “You don’t need me to be protective, Buck” he rolled his eyes, “Besides, Tony is just doing it to bother me”.

Bucky stared at his mate, “Wow Steve, you sure know how to make an omega feel wanted, don’t you?” He said flatly.

“Bucky,” Steve whined, “You’re more than just an omega, okay? You shouldn’t feel—”

But Bucky cut him off.

God, Steve was dense sometimes.

“More than an omega, Steve?” Bucky’s voice was raising, “What the hell is so wrong with being ‘just’ an omega anyway?” he demanded.

Another long-standing fight. One Bucky never won.

“You know that’s not what I meant” Steve sighed.

Bucky did know that. Steve didn’t mean it to be insulting—he never had. Bucky had just always been a little too aggressive, a little too broad shouldered, a little to tall to ever be seen as ‘just’ an omega. He was always used as an exception to secondary-gender roles and that was a _good_ thing. He was inspiring or something.

“What did you mean, Steve?” Bruce asked from the doorway, having crept up on them both.

Steve stuttered for a moment. Bucky watched him flounder, didn’t offer to help.

“I think you might think that what you said there was really kind and progressive,” Bruce said, tone gentle, “but what Bucky and I both just heard was that you think that to be an omega is inherently to be all of those damaging stereotypes we hate, and that what? If we prove ourselves to deny our more base instincts like you, it makes us more respectable?” Bruce said, voice still light, “It’s a little early for such a conversation, don’t you think?” he smiled, entering the kitchen and turning on the coffee.

At Steve’s sputtering apologies, Bruce went on. “You really do need to stop fighting with Tony, you know. He’s not the only one you’re antagonizing when you do”.

Steve gave some half-assed agreement to Bruce, who looked a little peeved but not angry.

Tony came in just as the coffee finished, as if summoned by the aroma.

Steve was all over Bucky as soon as the alpha entered the room. Bucky started peeling his orange a little faster, not interested in continuing the pissing match between the two alphas.

“Get off,” Bucky pushed the blond away, “We’re still fighting” He reminded him.

Steve just stood over his shoulder without touching.

Tony raised an eyebrow, “Lovers spat?” he smirked. Nat walked by and hit him with a newspaper.

Steve growled back, plastering himself to Bucky again.

“I mean it, Steve, I’m pissed at you,” Bucky shoved him away again.

Bucky tried to go back to peeling his orange, ignore the rising tension in the room, his own anger and frustration.

Steve wasn’t having it, though. “No,” he said, putting his hand on Bucky’s waist again.

Bucky could hear how quickly Bruce turned to look at Steve.

“Excuse you?” Bucky said, slowly, meaningfully. He turned just as slow and looked at Steve with an icy expression.

Steve glared back, “You want me to treat you like an omega, fine. I said _no_ , Bucky”.

Bucky was still aware of the others in the room, but he didn’t really care.

“ _Excuse you_?” Bucky said again, real heat behind the words now.

Steve got closer into his space.

“He said ‘no’ Steve” and oh fuck, that was Tony, “So back off”.

Steve positively vibrated with anger, “Stay out of it, Stark. You’re the cause of the problem anyway”.

Bucky wasn’t going to let this become an alpha stand-off. He was done with this. He had been done with this for a long time now.

“Oh, come off it, Steve. _Tony_ didn’t do anything—now _let go,_ ” and he pushed the alpha away and stood up, taking a step away from him too.

Steve didn’t seem too pleased with that, though. Bucky glanced to be sure Bruce had left the room. He had, but Nat was there with Tony now.

“No, you’re right, Bucky. He didn’t do anything. This is you, isn’t it? You want to play at being a pretty little omega all of a sudden, fine, lets play. Want us to fight over you, right? Show you who you belong to?” and Bucky hadn’t heard Steve use that tone with him since the war and Bucky was trying to calm injured alpha’s with pheromones. It was mean and possessive and not something Bucky appreciated, especially not in front of the team.

“Oh, I don’t suggest that, Rogers,” came Tony’s deep rumble before Bucky could reply, “That bond mark looks awfully faded for us to play that game”.

Which was true. True and something that they were pointedly not talking about. Bucky hadn’t noticed at first—how weak it had gotten since he was found, but then Clint and Laura had been by and Bucky saw the mating bite on Laura’s throat and his stomach dropped. Bucky’s was damn near invisible these days, so faded against his pale skin. Hers had been bright silvery white and she looked radiant with it, even after three kids and ten years of marriage.

Nat put her hand on Tony’s arm, trying to silently reel him in, but neither were willing to leave Bucky alone with Steve, which he appreciated.

“That’s _enough_ ” Bucky said loudly. “Steve, you’re being an asshole and no one appreciates it. Back off, and the two of you need to cut this pissing match out, _now_ ”.

Tony at least, put his hands up in surrender.

“I don’t appreciate other alphas sniffing around what is _mine_ ” Steve replied.

Bucky had had it, not only because of Steve’s words, but because he again tried to insert himself on Bucky’s space, gripping Bucky’s arm hard enough that were he not a super-soldier he would be bruised.

“Keep it up, _and I won’t be yours_!” He yelled, smacking the hand away _hard._

He was done. He was _so_ done with this. He stormed away, took the stairs two at a time—didn’t hear a thing Steve shouted over the rushing of blood in his ears and had Jarvis lock him out of their apartment.

Bucky started shoving things in a bag—he had no idea where he was going, but it wasn’t here with Steve.

He loved Steve, of course he loved Steve.

Sometimes he had regrets about Steve, though. He wished they hadn’t mated during the war, wished he hadn’t died a few months later. He wished Steve hadn’t told him ‘it’s for the best’ and instead told him ‘we’ll figure it out’, wished that their bond was strong still, at the same time he almost wished it had been broken when he fell.

But it was the bond that broke the hydra conditioning, so he couldn’t regret that part at least.

Sometimes he just wished he was with an alpha who didn’t think he was better than everyone else just because he didn’t get rough in bed.

He wished his alpha didn’t think it was an insult to call him ‘pretty little omega’, didn’t think his hormones were something he could control if he just tried hard enough.

Sure, Steve gave him far more slack in that department since his recovery from Hydra, since his hormones had been a fucking mess… but before that, Steve had always wanted Bucky to be ‘better than his biology’ and right now, Bucky hated that idea.

He had left the tower, a few essentials in a backpack and was wandering the streets of New York, slowly calming himself down, his pace going from ‘murder strut’ to New Yorker to tourist as he wandered.

About an hour later he found himself stopping outside a mommy & me type baby boutique. The display had little highchairs, tiny little ruffley outfits and bibs, toys and little bassinettes. He groaned, inwardly. God damn baby-fever.

His phone started ringing. Fishing it of his pocket he saw it was Tony of all people. He hoped they didn’t need to assemble.

“Hello?” He said, tentative.

“Hey, Robocop. Want some company?” Tony’s voice said from the other end.

Bucky sighed, “Yeah, actually” maybe they could do something fun that would get his mind off Steve and/or babies—Tony drove fast, Bucky liked that. “I’m uh…” He looked around for a landmark that _wasn’t_ a baby store.

“Yeah, I know” Came Tony’s voice from beside him.

Bucky tried not to startle. Tony’s expensive car pulling conveniently beside him in a narrow parking spot.

Right. He hadn’t disabled the GPS.

He rolled his eyes. “Hi” he said as Tony got out.

“Baby-fever again?” He asked, leaning against the car. Bucky knew nothing about cars of the modern world, but this one was a pretty steel grey and Bucky liked it.

He shrugged.

Tony laughed, “Gimmie your hobo sack, runaway,” he said, and Bucky shrugged out of the backpack. Tony tossed it in the trunk.

“We going in or what?” He asked, meeting Bucky on the sidewalk.

Baffled, Bucky just stuttered at Tony. That was a _terrible_ idea! Literal torture for Bucky, and possibly even Tony after a while.

Bucky’s mouth had better ideas. “Sure, why the hell not”.

There were a lot of reasons for that. First being that it smelt like omega in the best possible way, pregnant and otherwise. There was also a couple of customers with their babies and Bucky’s heart _melted_ at the sight of one woman with her little pup strapped to her chest, waving his little arms in excitement.

Stupidly, Bucky grabbed for Tony’s hand.

If he hadn’t, he might have died right there. Or maybe just tried to steal the woman’s kid.

Tony chuckled at him, giving his hand a squeeze before pulling him fully into the boutique.

One side was dedicated to pale pastel colours, blue, pink, yellow, green—for newborns he guessed. The other side, awash with the full rainbow and consisting of every toy imaginable twice over to a guy who grew up in the depression.

“Oh my god” he whispered, picking up a set of the _tiniest_ socks he had ever seen. “Tony, Tony—look at how _small_ they are”.

He held up the little striped socks with a wiggle, Tony’s smile was softer than he had ever seen before. It wasn’t even a smirk!

“Adorable, Bucky” Tony agreed, voice filled with just as much reverence as his own.

A moment later, an attendant approached them, “Can I help you find anything today?” She said pleasantly.

Bucky was reminded suddenly about his faded bond mark, his tall and broad frame, his obvious not-pregnant-scent, his rough and scarred hand(s) so covered in innocent blood. He put the socks back as if burned.

He shouldn’t be here.

Tony pressed his palm to the small of Bucky’s back.

“Just browsing. Looking for a baby shower gift,” Tony lied smoothly.

Tony was able to dismiss the clerk with a few charming smiles and nods, and they were alone again.

“Great, now they expect us to buy something. Know anyone having a kid?” He whispered.

Tony laughed at that, “No, do you?”

Bucky rolled his eyes, “We know all the same people”.

They slowly wandered the newborn section, showing each other the tiny items, cooing over the soft textures.

Bucky ended up wandering back to those tiny little socks, green and yellow stripes—like fun little dress socks for a little baby businessperson. It was killing him.

Bucky was surprised his scent hadn’t taken on that desperately fertile quality again, even though his desire to have a baby of his own was at the forefront of his mind. He was pretty sure Tony had given him a subtle sniff once or twice and done nothing but smiled, but Bucky could have been imagining it. Bucky wasn’t really thinking about pregnancy right now though, despite the scent of it sweet like warm linen and honey in the air. He was wrapped up the thoughts of what came _after_ the pregnancy. The tiny little sounds, cranky cries before a hungry little mouth was brought to his breast, tiny toes, fingernails the size of rice, pudgy little cheeks, the lullaby his ma used to sing—always the same tune with different words.

The few omegas with their little ones with them looked and scented happy, healthy. Bucky loved it. It reminded him of his own home growing up, when he was real young, before the depression hit. His three baby sisters, the scent of _family._ It also reminded him of that bone deep exhaustion that seemed to affect everyone in the house the first few weeks after his ma came home with a new little one. It reminded him how rewarding it was, when the newborn finally slept through the night and suddenly everything—the waking, the crying, the diaper changes, the never-ending sink full of bottles- it was all so worth it.

He wanted that again.

By the time they had wandered the entire store, Tony made the decision to purchase the socks and the softest pale-yellow blanket in the store to keep up the facade. Tony had rubbed the blanket on Bucky’s face since he had gloves on to hide his prosthetic. It was incredibly soft.

The cashier made a comment about the adorable little socks, to which Tony replied “Hard to imagine they’re ever this small,” with a charming TV worthy smile.

The cashier, clearly interested in the seemingly unmated alpha asked, “Do you have any of your own?” with a sweet innocent smile that Bucky did not like at all. Clearly, she wasn’t bright enough to recognize Tony Stark, but at least she wasn’t blind to the older alphas looks. Not that that made Bucky feel any better when she _batted her eyelids_ at him.

At which point Tony replied casually, as if talking about the weather (which he supposed for some this _was_ small talk) “Yeah, he’s all grown up now though. Applying to college already”.

It was only Bucky’s time in Hydra’s service that kept his face blank at that.

No where in SHIELD or in Hydra, was the record of _that_.

He supposed Tony did have a history. Hell, it wasn’t like the man was celibate _now,_ either. It just didn’t make any sense as to how no one _knew_ that.

The moment the stepped back outside Bucky stared at Tony is open disbelief, “You what?!”.

Tony didn’t even seem to register what Bucky was on about at first but caught up a moment later. “Oh. No, Peter’s not mine. Just an intern I’ve unwillingly adopted” He laughed, “No, surprisingly no kids. You’d think there would have been at least one or two accidents but… nope”, and he shrugged it off like it was nothing in a way that made Bucky thing it was definitely something.

Bucky tried to smile back. That made sense, Tony did have a favourite intern at SI—he really took the kid under his wing, but Bucky was too busy flinching at the word ‘accident’, and he knew his scent soured because that god damn kitchen chair would haunt him for the rest of his life he was sure of it.

Tony looked concerned.

Bucky smiled, but it wasn’t a happy smile. “Lucky you, then,” and it didn’t sound mean, but dead and hurt.

“Oh, fuck, Bucky I’m sorry” He said and moved into Bucky’s space the same way he did with Bruce and Nat when they were upset. Bucky let him.

Tony rubbed gentle circles into his lower back.

“It’s fine. Was a lifetime ago” He said with a wobbly smile.

Tony pulled him into a hug, and Bucky clung to the other man’s jacket like a lifeline.

He’d never told anyone this before. Just Steve. He felt so _raw._

“Guess that explains a few things, then” Tony said, tone calming, scent calming, pressure calming.

Bucky felt okay.

He laughed a little, “Yeah, sure does”.

Tony was quiet for a while longer, soothing Bucky with his scent and his arms around him. When they did get into the car together, Bucky kept the bag of purchases with him and immediately pulled out those little socks. He stuck his fingers in them and wiggled them as if they were a baby’s feet kicking.

Tony hadn’t started the car. They sat and giggled together for a while.

“So, have you and Steve talked about… you know?” He asked gently, looking pointedly at Bucky’s belly.

Bucky felt himself blush, even as he mumbled “Steve can’t”.

Tony nodded, “Yeah, but there’s other ways you guys could…” he trailed off, hinting.

Bucky hadn’t even been able to bring himself to tell Steve he _remembered it_ let alone sit down and explain how Bucky’s regretted it every moment of everyday since he got the memory back, how he’d do anything to fix it. To do it over again.

Their lives weren’t exactly baby-friendly, either.

Then again, things didn’t have to be _perfect_ exactly _._

Life was already far better for both of them than it had been when they were teenagers. Steve wasn’t sick or dying—that was enough of a point in Bucky’s favour that he could work out the rest later. He knew he would never be perfect. Steve would never be perfect. The world would never be perfect. If they waited until things were ‘better’, well… Steve had already gone and got himself sterilized the last time he told Bucky to do that.

But that wasn’t the reason he hadn’t talked to Steve about it.

Bucky felt like he needed to be honest with Tony—since he had avoided this honesty with himself for so long.

“I don’t think I could raise a kid with Steve… not after, uh… well, not after that fucking kitchen chair” he said, looking down at the socks in his lap.

“Jesus” Tony hissed, “That’s… that’s wow” He said, pointlessly.

Bucky gave a sad smile, “That’s probably why my bond mark’s fading too”.

Tony winced at that. “Look, Bucky. I’m sorry about what I said this morning. I shouldn’t have gotten involved—I heard Steve tell you ‘no’ and I—I shouldn’t have got involved”. He _sounded_ sorry, and Bucky appreciated it immensely just for that.

“Thanks. You shouldn’t have been involved, no… but I’m uh, I’m glad you were there. Steve was… he was getting kinda…” _Scary._ Steve had been getting scary. Bucky no doubt could push Steve away, slap some sense into him if he took things too much further, but Bucky didn’t want to have to. He shouldn’t have to. He was an omega, after all. He was Steve’s _mate_.

Tony’s face looked serious for a moment, “He ever gets like that again, you come find me, okay?” and his tone was hard, and very much alpha-y.

“It’s fine, I uh, I’m stronger than he is—”

Tony cut him off, “If he ever tries that again,” he said slowly, “you come find me” his voice was dark, and it made Bucky shiver. “You’re an omega under my roof, you don’t ever have to fight off an alpha you don’t want. No matter what”.

Bucky found himself nodding, staring back at Tony’s intense gaze with wide eyes. “Yes, alpha” he whispered. Then blinked and cleared his throat, “I mean—uh, thank you Tony. I appreciate that.”.

Tony himself seemed to sober a bit, “sorry,” he mumbled.

Bucky chuckled at him, “You’re protective, it’s nice. You’re never like that with me, just Bruce and Nat. Think I might like this break from Steve,” he smiled.

That seemed to shock Tony, “Break from Steve?” he asked, raising a brow.

“Oh, er… I… I have no idea, actually. I really don’t want to go home though…” he thought out loud, “These last two hours as a runaway have been pretty nice. Annoyed the fuck out of both tourists and New Yorkers with my walking speed, confused an old lady trying to cop a feel on my biceps on the subway, got picked up by a rich single alpha, handled the baby-fever thing without unintentionally trying to send someone into rut again… It’s been good,” he grinned.

Tony rolled his eyes and started the car, “You’re coming home. You can stay in the penthouse or with Bruce” he said.

Bucky nodded his consent. That was way better than finding a cheap motel until Steve hunted him down. He could avoid the blonde better while in the tower with Jarvis.

They drove, listening to Tony’s old rock music for a while before the man said, “That’s the curse, isn’t it?” and he didn’t need to explain for Bucky to know what he was talking about.

Bucky sighed, “Yeah, that’s the curse” and he picked up the socks again, “Pretty fucking cruel, considering my mate is sterile and I’m already prone to monthly baby-fever anyway” He complained.

Tony didn’t need to prompt him to talk about it, suddenly Bucky just _needed_ someone to know.

“I regretted it before I even did it. I wanted to keep the baby— but I was barely seventeen and Steve was even younger and couldn’t get a job. It was the only option, but it wasn’t what I _wanted_. Every time a walked into ma’s kitchen, seeing that chair, I felt sick,” he had started off slow, but his word vomit was gaining traction, “I’ve got so much regret, but that, that ‘what could have been’ has been eating at me for so long but Steve… He never let me _talk_ about it,” Bucky raged, unaware of the car slowing.

It was more words in a row than he’d ever said to Tony, he was sure. Bucky was a one-liner kind of guy these days. That didn’t seem to stop the words from coming though.

“He actually told me it made me hysterical! Of fucking _course_ I was hysterical! He made me kill my—” and Bucky stopped himself with a hand over his mouth, horrified. That stopped the word vomit alright.

The car was still, pulled over on the side of the road.

He glanced at Tony, who looked equally as horrified.

“He didn’t” Bucky said, whispering. “He didn’t _make_ me do it—I… I didn’t want to but we both had to. I’m just angry. I never got a chance to be angry”.

“You can be angry now” Tony told him honestly.

He nodded. “I am”.

And Bucky was. And Tony let him be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more time for the kids in the back: 'No' means 'fuck no', whether it's around sex, personal space, emotional boundaries, or who can touch the leftovers in the fridge. 
> 
> It doesn't matter if Bucky *could* fight back, the problem is that he was in a situation where he felt he might have to. Loved ones should never make you feel like you might be unsafe, even a little bit. 
> 
> Everyone makes mistakes, and sometimes we make people uncomfortable when we don't mean to, but when that happens, we have to put in a lot of work to make sure we don't ever do it again, right Steve? Right.


	3. Chapter Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve and Bucky are still fighting, their bond is fading and Bucky is making peace with that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Steve's still being a dick, but it's for the best. He gets better.

Bucky was staying in the penthouse in one of Tony’s guest rooms. He didn’t see much of the engineer, since Tony really just lived in the lab, sleeping on the lumpy old couch. Bucky could prove it too, because one night he slept in Tony’s bed which scented like clean linen and nothing else and then waited until Tony noticed. It took two weeks. The alpha was not impressed with him and told Bucky he was rude for making his bed smell like a pretty omega without any of the fun that usually accompanies that scent. Bucky had blushed at being called pretty and promised (with his fingers crossed) not to do it again.

He’d also talked to Steve. Met him in the communal living area with Jarvis paying close attention.

“Steve, you’re being a real dick lately” He started.

“I know, Buck. I’m sorry. I should never have said those things to you”.

Bucky, for all he loved Steve, did not believe him even a little bit.

Steve hadn’t been the one to come find Bucky after he stormed out. Steve hadn’t let him scream or cry about the god damn kitchen chair.

Steve had apologized like he was right now about a hundred times over their lifetime together.

Something had to give.

Something had to change.

“Apologize to Tony.” He said.

“ _What_?! No!” Steve sounded incredulous.

Bucky shook his head, “I mean it. We—” he motioned between their bodied, “are taking a _break._ ”

Bucky rarely sounded so confident about things that weren’t related to missions.

Steve had that kicked puppy look on his face, shoulders drooping. “I deserve that. I’m sorry, Buck”.

“Stop saying it. Prove it” was all Bucky said before he left.

Bucky spent another few day’s in the penthouse. The others came to visit him once they realized he wasn’t going to cave. Tony’s apartment was feeling much like a common room now, less Steve and Tony himself.

“It smells like people in here,” Tony said one night, coming up from the lab. “It never smells like people in here”.

He started sleeping in the penthouse more often after that.

Bucky met with Steve again.

“Apologize to Tony” he said again.

“For what?!” Steve demanded.

Bucky went back to the penthouse.

There was the problem with Bucky’s curse. Tony was not immune or insensitive to the pheromones, but now at least he knew what was happening and could leave without feeling too badly embarrassed about it. Tony didn’t tell anyone else, which Bucky was forever grateful for.

Bruce had approached Bucky a few days after he started staying with Tony and offered him ‘birth control’. They didn’t have that when he was growing up, so Bruce had to explain the whole thing to him. Bruce told him it might be useful on the off-chance Bucky decided he wanted to be with someone who wasn’t… well, Steve. Bucky agreed mainly because Bruce told him it would space out Bucky’s heats a bit more, and he felt at the very least, he owed it to Tony not to stink up the alphas apartment a week after the guy started sleeping in his own bed. Bucky was even pretty good at remembering to take it, almost all the time.

One day, about three weeks in, Bucky noticed the change in his bond mark. It was even more faded, barely visible unless you were looking for it real close.

Bucky met Steve again.

“Apologize to Tony”

“No”

_And then again._

“Apologize to Tony, Steve”

“Why does it matter?”

_And again._

“Apologize to Tony”

“No!”

“Our bond is breaking!”

_And again._

“Apologize to Tony”

“Why?”

“So I know you mean it when you tell me you didn’t mean what you said”

“It’s not about him”.

_And again._

“Apologize to Tony”

“Bucky, stop this”

“I’m going into heat tomorrow”

“Oh, Buck—”

“Stay away from me”.

Bucky had taken to wearing sweaters with hoods once he had noticed, it was useful for covering the majority of his faded bond mark and what was visibly was covered is a shadow enough that it didn’t matter.

When Tony saw him the morning before his heat with only an undershirt on, he frowned.

“Is there anything I can do? Talk to him or…” It was clear he hated the idea himself, but Bucky appreciated the offer.

He shook his head, “I told him what he needed to do, he keeps refusing. He knows what’s at stake”

“Jesus, Buck. What did you tell him to do?”

Buck smiled, “Apologize to you”.

Tony gaped at him for a minute, taken aback.

“To _me?!_ ” He asked, incredulous.

Nodding, Bucky explained. “If he wants me to believe he respects my biology all the time and not just when it suits him, he’s going to have to face his own biology, since he seems to think he’s above it all—the glorified beta” Bucky added the last part with a grumble that made Tony snort.

“Bucky…” Tony said seriously, “That bond won’t last much longer like this” he warned.

Bucky nodded, picking at his toast. “Won’t last the next day or so actually. I’m going into heat soon”.

“And you told him… what?” Tony asked, slowly.

“Told him to stay away from me” Bucky said, casual. “That was last night. Jarvis said he’s asked for me four times now. Hasn’t come looking for you though, so…” he continued tearing his toast apart.

“Shit, Bucky,” Tony said, sitting at the island across from him. “You sure you’re okay if…” he trailed off, giving the mark a pointed look.

Bucky had been thinking for a long time. He was sure. He asked himself that everyday since he noticed how faded that mark was.

“I’ve made peace with it” he said, smiling genuinely.

Tony looked at him, searching for a lie and then nodded, finding Bucky’s words to be true.

Honestly, Bucky assumed that the team would have more to say on the matter. It was clear Steve didn’t bother hiding his bond mark, so whilst Bucky didn’t have to deal with pitying eyes fixating on his throat because his was covered, he knew that the team was aware of the situation. Of Bucky hiding in the penthouse.

No one mentioned it though. Except for Tony—always the exception.

Bucky expected Nat or maybe that Sam guy who came by from Washington sometimes, to pull him aside and tell Bucky he was being stupid and childish, and _didn’t he realize what he was doing_? But they never did.

The way Nat had become silently affectionate told Bucky that maybe it’s because he wasn’t the only one who didn’t mind what was happening.

“Alright, well when’s your heat start? Tomorrow? I can clear out before and you can have the place” he said, pouring himself some more coffee as if that was that. It wasn’t like this was Bucky breaking a literal _soul bond_ with his best friend.

Bucky snorted, “Couple hours maybe” he said.

Tony choked on his coffee.

“Cool” he said when no longer coughing.

Bucky laughed, “You didn’t notice?” he asked.

Tony shook his head, “I’ve been breathing through my mouth—you smell… a lot”.

Bucky pouted, “Rude”.

Tony raised a brow, “Did you _want_ to get pregnant?”

Bucky shot him a matching look, “ _Yes_ ”.

Tony rolled his eyes, “You know what I mean”.

Teasing, Bucky asked, “No, no. What do you mean, Tony?”.

“Do you want _me_ to get you pregnant?” He said, with sass.

Bucky immediately regretted making Tony clarify, because his heat was hours away and that was a sentence that he’d very much like to reply to by dropping to his knees and spreading his legs…

It must have shown on his face, or in his scent because Tony’s pupils were blown, and he wasn’t breathing through his mouth at all anymore.

The alpha blinked and leaned away.

The moment broken.

Bucky cleared his throat, “Well, you would make pretty babies” He teased, throat dry.

Tony seemed to beam at the compliment, only for his expression to cloud over a moment later.

“Terrible father though” he laughed, darkly.

Bucky frowned. That wasn’t true. Bucky had seen him with his ‘adopted intern’, how kind and patient he was, how he expressed his pride and gave out praise like candy. How he handled the kid when he was angry or hurting because being a teenager _sucked_. If Tony could handle a teenager, even a fraction of the time that Tony did—he’d be an excellent father at any other stage, maybe even the terrible-two’s.

Bucky told him as much.

Tony _blushed_.

“I never did ask, are you ever planning on having kids? Other than Peter, obviously” Bucky was compelled to ask.

Tony looked awkward all of a sudden.

“Well, uh… I don’t know if you’ve noticed but I’m forty-three and never mated so…” he said as if that was an answer.

“So what? I’m going to have a baby by myself. You could too, you know” Bucky said casually, with a calm he wasn’t feeling. “You’d make a great father, you have money, a home, friends to support you, a passion to share, intelligence, opportunities, you’re patient and fun, you uh—” Bucky cut himself off. “Anyway, you’d be fine without a wife” he finished lamely.

Tony, although his face was a little pink, snorted. “Wife. Oh _no_ thank you”.

Did that mean Tony was attracted to men? Well… he clearly wasn’t immune to omega pheromones, male or female, but if he specified no ‘wife’ that had to mean what he really wanted was a husband… all this time Bucky had been around, assuming the little arousal he could spike in Tony was because of pheromones… He supposed it probably was. Attracted exclusively to men, or omegas, it didn’t matter. Tony wasn’t attracted to Bucky.

The thought made him feel a lot worse than it should.

“Stop that,” Tony said, “I’m polite, not blind,” as if reading Bucky’s mind.

Bucky gave a little laugh, some confidence restored. “I’m getting sick of alphas who tell me their polite”.

“I’m not polite in bed, if that helps,” Tony chuckled.

Stupidly Bucky’s hindbrain replied with, “Yeah? Show me”.

Tony very nearly did.

The alpha moved, was around the table and in Bucky’s space within one breath and the next, before blinking away the red from his eyes again.

Bucky’s heart was pounding.

“I should go downstairs” He whispered. He was very close now. He made no move to go.

The tension was palpable in the room. Bucky was breathing a little faster than he should be, filling his head with the heavy scent of alpha.

The thought of Tony leaving pulled deep in Bucky’s chest. Something inside him was screaming for Bucky to do something, say something, anything—just to make the alpha stay. He wanted Tony to want him, wanted to make that red bleed back into the alpha’s eyes. Wanted to feel the alpha against his skin, holding him down, making him cry out, taking and giving and—Bucky didn’t want Tony to leave.

“I don’t want you to” Bucky said to Tony.

The alpha sucked in a sharp breath, “You mean that?” Tony asked, taking a few steps away to let Bucky think without scenting the alphas own arousal. 

Bucky paused to consider.

It was possible that his heat would be too difficult to get through alone. He hadn’t had a heat alone in a long time. He wasn’t getting them when he was with Hydra, and after he managed to escape, they hadn’t started up again until he had been living at the tower for a few months and by that point he had Steve again. The last time he had went through a heat on his own, he was in the army and it had lasted maybe six hours before the stress of the battlefield became more pressing than his desire to be fucked stupid.

Even before Steve made it to Europe and the two bonded for real, Bucky hadn’t exactly been going through his heats _alone_ very often.

Now that he thought about it, that may have been a part of Steve’s sudden motivation for bonding with Bucky, since the blonde had no desire to do so _before_ Bucky was surrounded by other alphas and no running water to rinse away the scent of rutting alpha or omega in heat.

Bucky wasn’t sure he’d be able to handle this alone.

He could call… a service.

He could call Steve.

Steve would do it too. If Bucky called him, desperate and crying for his knot, he knew Steve would be there in a heartbeat, trying to soothe him—telling him it was ‘okay’ and rocking gently into him. It didn’t matter that Bucky had told him to stay away already. If Bucky went through this heat without Steve, the bond would be severed for sure, and Bucky—as stubborn as Steve was—did not believe Steve really wanted that to happen.

Bucky did though.

Bucky didn’t want to wake up two days from now and have the bond be any more visible. Didn’t want to wake up with sticky thighs and not enough bruises to really mean much. Didn’t want to wake up to that alpha scent that just wasn’t _enough_ , that was missing something, that was void of some very important element that unless you knew it was infertility you’d just think the alpha had recently showered.

“Would you help? If I gave you the okay now?” Bucky found himself asking. All hypothetical of course.

Tony bit his lip, took a breath that was hopefully not too saturated in Bucky’s scent, and replied a simple, “Yes”.

Bucky blinked at him.

“You are asking me to stay? Now, and with a clear head?” he said seriously.

Bucky considered him. “Go stand further away for a minute” he said. Tony didn’t hesitate to do as told.

Was Bucky asking for another alpha right now? Knowing his mate was a few floors away, bugging Jarvis and the other Avengers to ‘just talk’ to Bucky, cursing Tony all the while.

Bucky had a mate. Steve had sunk his teeth deep into Bucky’s throat seventy years ago, knot deep inside Bucky’s hole and rocking gently together in a tent in the freezing cold damp of Europe while men died of infection or blood loss or bullet wounds a hundred feet away.

Would Tony even want him? A mated omega that was taller than him? Broader in to shoulders too, with the metal arm welded to his bones. Would Tony smell Steve in Bucky’s scent still? The bond as faded as it is, and Steve’s own scent being as weak as it is… Maybe the other alpha wouldn’t notice. Would Tony be put off by the mark though? Would he be able to bury his face in Bucky’s scent glands the way most alphas liked when he’d be pressing his face against the scar left by another man?

Bucky ran his fingers over his bond mark but stopped… _He couldn’t_ _feel anything_.

His heart started pounding in his chest, and he heard the rushing of blood in his ears.

It didn’t tingle, not even faintly like it had an hour ago.

It was… _gone_.

It seemed crazy that something so powerful as to survive seventy years of ice and torture could fall apart at the stubborn will of one man. For it to do so, and not even feel the exact moment it was gone? It was sickening in a way, that that’s how this would end with Steve.

But this, this hadn’t been a sudden thing, had it? In reality, that bond had been fading for seventy years now.

Was it the simple act of thinking about Tony in his bed that had finally broken it? Or was it that Bucky had known, was already making peace with the fact that it would break during this heat anyway? Maybe it was the sudden realization that Bucky didn’t _want_ Steve to renew the bond through this heat.

Did it matter what had finally done it though?

Probably not.

He wondered if Steve had felt it. Bucky hadn’t.

If Steve did feel it, was he wondering what did it too? Was the other alpha downstairs imagining Tony pressing into Bucky, scenting him—sucking bruises into his skin and erasing the white of the scar with angry red and purple marks, pink outlines of blunt teeth against Bucky’s throat?

Did Steve know that Bucky wanted Tony?

Bucky hadn’t realized he wanted the other alpha until he started staying at the penthouse… but maybe he wanted Tony for longer than that.

Bucky had always been jealous of the omegas on the team, the way that Tony pampered them, touched them, scented them.

Bucky often found himself missing the feeling associated with walking into a room and being so saturated in an alpha’s scent that other alphas turned away as if the very act of looking at him was a sin. Missed being close with other omegas based purely on the fact that they were just all omegas. That’s what Bruce and Nat got to do… not Bucky though. Bucky wasn’t ‘just an omega’ and so of course he couldn’t do things like that.

Steve had told Bucky to keep distance from Tony at the beginning mostly because Tony liked to scent the omegas he kept near, and Bucky was not supposed to be one of them.

But now Bucky found himself sleeping in the alpha’s bed, trying to entice him into the penthouse. Found himself taking long naps in the lab on the couch that had served as the alphas bed for months, maybe even years, trying to wrap himself in his scent.

Scarcely could Bucky look at Tony now and not imagine what it would be like to watch him cradle a small bundle of wiggling limbs and gurgling coos, staring at the fascination at the little dark-haired baby in his arms.

He dreamt, more than once, of being back at that boutique, Tony’s own mark on Bucky’s throat bright white and on display, the alpha’s hand laying protectively over his belly—the pride on the alpha’s face.

Those tiny little socks, laying on the swell of his abdomen—waiting for the baby inside to grow.

Bucky would be lying if he said he didn’t also think about how they might go about making Bucky’s belly swell.

Tony would be rough. He knew that. People talked, there was video proof online even. Bucky had maybe seen it once or twice. He’d hold Bucky down, all growling alpha voice in his ear—his scent, oh god, his scent.

This birth control thing Bruce gave him must mean it would be okay if Tony went into rut, right? Bucky hadn’t had an alpha in rut in _so long_.

Bucky wanted.

“Yes, I’m asking you to stay.”

And Tony did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd like to mention, in this fictional A/B/O universe, a mating bond is done through a bite from both (or all) participants and can be between people of any designation, not just alphas and omegas (Clint being a beta, Laura being an omega). Typically the mark left on an omega is more visible than the mark they leave on their partner. A mating mark is supposed to be permanent, not something that you would see fade over a small argument, or even sometimes death. Sometimes mates break up, but that doesn't necessarily mean the bond will break. It's supposed to be a once in a lifetime thing. Bucky and Steve's bond fading is unusual but not entirely unheard of.


	4. Chapter Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bucky is in heat, Tony tries his best to have some self control but that was never his strength and Bucky doesn't seem to care much for it anyway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shameless sex.
> 
> There's a lot of degrading dirty talk on Tony's part, but Bucky is super into it.
> 
> Some trash talking about Steve (poor guy, it'll be okay) but he's not in this chapter.
> 
> In case anyone is wondering, in this A/B/O fic I've made it so that an omega's heat is a monthly thing that happens during 'ovulation', but an alpha's rut is not a scheduled process, just brought on if they're around a certain omega pheromone produced when an omega is looking for someone to sire offspring. Typically an omega has more control over that pheromone and wouldn't be producing it around just anyone, but Bucky's 'curse' coupled with his very real desire for a family makes it harder for him to avoid. Also, he's all kinds of into Tony.

Tony advised Natasha that the team would need to manage the next two days without Bucky _or_ Tony and the other omega had given the alpha a long and pointed silence over the phone before saying simply, “I’ll have Steve brief the team”.

They both shared a wince at that.

It was sobering enough that with the few hours they had remaining before Bucky with in the throws of his heat, they could act like normal human beings, continuing breakfast and Bucky taking a pre-emptive shower.

When he returned, wearing nothing but a pair of loose sweatpants, Tony’s eyes mapped ever inch of Bucky’s torso with appreciation before landing on his throat.

“It’s _gone_ ” The alpha said in shock. Apparently having not noticed it during breakfast, “Like… all the way gone”.

Bucky nodded, “Yep” he said simply. He didn’t want to talk about it.

“Fuck” Tony cursed quietly.

Bucky raised an eyebrow. He assumed that would be a good thing. No alpha wanted to fuck a mated omega.

“I was kinda hoping it would be enough of a deterrent… you know, if you go all baby crazy again…” Tony said, scratching the back of his head, still raking his eyes over Bucky.

That made sense, he supposed. It was likely the only reason Tony hadn’t lost his control that day in the lab.

“Oh, well Bruce gave me those uh… birth stoppers? Birth-be-gone’s? Birth control! Yeah, that’s it. It must work, since my heat was supposed to be like two weeks ago” Bucky said.

Tony bit his lip, rubbing at his beard. “That just stops it from uh, catching” He said. “Doesn’t make it any easier for me not to uh…” and he gave Bucky’s belly a look, “not to _try_ ”.

It sent a shiver through Bucky.

Would that mean Tony would? Try to at least? Would the alpha go into rut, pin Bucky down and lift up his hips so that the rutting alpha could fuck, and fuck, and fuck until Bucky was so full of his come that the alpha instincts in Tony would be convinced he’d put a baby in the omega?

Maybe it would catch anyway?

He wasn’t aware that he’d been lost in thought, producing the exact hormone that Tony just said he was worried about Bucky producing until the alpha cleared his throat pointedly, giving Bucky an unimpressed look.

Right. Tony and Bucky were not mated, and they were not having a baby together. They were just friends. Tony helping Bucky.

“Doesn’t the birth control mean it’s okay if you try? It’s not like I mind increased stamina, I’ve been mated to Steve after all,” Bucky’s throat was dry.

Tony’s nose scrunched up, “Please don’t compare me to the gentle giant. I’ve convinced myself he’s terrible in bed, and I’d like to continue with that illusion, thanks”.

Bucky had to chuckle at that, “I mean… you’re not wrong. It’s a whole lot of missionary. Like… a _whole_ lot of missionary” He admitted.

Tony cringed, “You know I’m not like that, though, right? Think you can take it?” He smirked.

It sent another rush of arousal through the omega. He wanted this. He wanted it so badly it hurt. Tony would treat him like an omega in a way Steve never had. Tony wouldn’t be afraid of losing control.

“Make me take it, alpha” Bucky’s voice was husky and smooth.

Tony crossed the distance between them in three quick steps and had Bucky’s hips pinned to the cool metal of the refrigerator, making him hiss at the contrast on his heated skin. Tony’s hands, strong and steady gripped his hips and although Bucky was over-warm from the beginnings of his heat, the Alphas hands felt hot, nearly burning in their intensity.

Tony loomed over him somehow, even though Bucky was almost two inches taller than the alpha.

His eyes were dark, but not red. Their faces were nearly touching, breathing each others air.

“You’re going to put me in rut, aren’t you, baby?” Tony purred.

He said it like Bucky was the one responsible here, but also like Tony wanted nothing more than for Bucky to do just as he said.

He found himself swallowing thickly before nodding. “Yes, alpha. Want it…” he breathed into the little space they had.

Tony’s thumbs were stoking rhythmically against either side of Bucky’s navel, pressing just enough to draw attention to the motion, to the aching inside him, his insides crying out for this alpha.

The alpha hummed appreciatively, “What do you want, Bucky? Tell me.” And his voice was all rough and gravely.

Bucky’s face heated, he felt himself getting slick. He wasn’t wearing anything under the loose sweatpants, and he could feel himself starting to leak. If he dared open his legs any more, there’d be a trail of it dripping down his thighs.

He’d always been careful not to say stupid heat-brain things out loud with Steve, he knew they wouldn’t have any effect on the alpha. Now though, now he could, and Tony wouldn’t judge him.

They could even just pretend, for a little while at least, that it was real.

“Want you to breed me, alpha” Bucky whined, wanton and whorish.

Tony growled, low and pleased. He shoved Bucky further into the cold metal, then pressed his own hips to the omega’s and Bucky moaned softly.

“Yeah,” Tony ground out, “You smell like it, too. Smell like you’re dying for it”.

Then Tony was kissing him.

It was deep, rough and filled with need. Tony’s tongue was licking into him mouth one second making him moan and the next he had sharp teeth biting at Bucky’s lip making his gasp. Bucky had no control over it, Tony was everywhere and he was helpless to try and catch up.

Tony was trailing wet, open mouth kisses down the column of Bucky’s throat, nipping gently at the skin and making Bucky whimper.

“Always fucking smell like this,” he was saying, “driving me fucking crazy trying to keep my hands off you,” he sucked a bruise onto Bucky’s collarbone and the omega tossed his head back, letting the alpha have his way. “Begging me to knock you up, putting me in rut—fucking omegas. God damn cockteases,” he was growling, rambling.

Bucky had never been grouped in with omega’s as a whole before, since Steve valued him for all his ‘non-omega’ characteristics over the omega ones. To be cursed simply for being an omega that smelled good, probably shouldn’t have made him feel that much more heated and desperate but it did.

It was also an admission that Tony had gone into rut that day in the lab. Bucky felt himself swell with pride.

Bucky instinctively spread his legs, feeling Tony’s hips grinding into his own—the hardness there. He wanted to sooth the ache he’d caused his alpha.

He felt slick dripping down his thigh and whimpered, shivering. He didn’t usually get this wet so fast.

Tony breathed deeply, “Fuck, Bucky—” He hissed, appreciative.

Tony leaned away a little. Bucky whined, desperate like he’d never been before.

“Bucky” Tony was saying, tone trying to be serious but still breathy and rough. “Bucky you really are gunna put me in rut if we don’t slow down” he said, “you gotta, gotta try to make the pheromones stop” but he rolled his hips against Bucky’s as he said it.

Bucky’s body responded by making more of that scent instead.

Tony’s eyes went red, then brown, then red. He growled, roughly pinning Bucky away from him again. “Bucky,” he scolded.

The omega just moaned, “Can’t. Can’t Tony, alpha. Please. It’s okay, I want it. Please, Tony. Want you like that”.

Tony moved away completely. Bucky whined some more.

“Bedroom, now” The alpha growled, firm. Bucky was shivering and nodding before he’d even finished the sentence.

Bucky had a split second to decide whose room to go to. On one hand, if he went to Tony’s, it would smell deliciously like alpha. On the other hand, if he went to his—he’d be more likely to make Tony lose that last shred of control he had.

Bucky nearly ran to his room.

He heard Tony’s voice from the kitchen still. His enhanced hearing making it sound as if he was still there with him.

Tony’s voice sounded wrecked. “Bruce” he said.

Bucky heard the other omega reply through Jarvis’ speakers, “Tony? Are you alright?”.

Bucky frowned. Why was Tony calling another omega right now? Had Bucky done something wrong?

“Can he get pregnant?” Tony asked, voice clipped and gritted.

Confused, the omega on the line asked, “Can who get preg—oh, you mean Bucky. Uh, it’s not likely—he’s on birth control now, didn’t he tell you?”

“He’s in heat”

“Oh!” Bruce said in understanding, “Oh… and you’re in rut” he realized.

He heard Tony try and even out his breathing, “No” he said, almost human.

“About to be then”.

“Maybe”.

“He should be fine. It’s about ninety percent effective. If your worried, wrap it before you know… tap it” Bruce said, laughing.

“Perfect, thanks,” came the clipped response.

Bucky heard the call disconnect.

A moment later Tony was in the doorway.

“You gunna fuck me, now?” Bucky asked, raising his brow. “Got permission from your other omega?” and he sounded jealous in a way he really wasn’t—but why didn’t Tony ask him that? He told him already that it was okay.

Tony lifted a brow back, “Eavesdropping? Gotta say, I didn’t think you were the jealous type”.

Bucky was sitting cross legged in the middle of his bed, picking at a thread on his pants. He shrugged, he wasn’t usually. It was a heat thing.

Tony hadn’t crossed the threshold of the door.

“Listen,” Tony sighed, “I’m not like Steve” he said. “I can’t turn off my sense of smell. When you start smelling like that—all fertile and horny and so fucking good—I can’t just, just make it about helping you with your heat. I’m going to go into rut, and I’m going to want to do it, fuck—you know I want a baby as bad as you do, and this—” he motioned to Bucky, “It’s playing absolute hell on my instincts. It’s torture. I don’t want to take this further than you want me to”.

Bucky didn’t actually know that, no. He suspected Tony wanted a baby—but to hear him say it… it was something else entirely.

“I’m sorry,” Bucky said and meant it. “This spell thing, I can’t even really control it. But… this birth control stuff? Bruce said it works so why don’t we just… we can help both of us here. Let’s just pretend… pretend that it’s okay?” He said hopefully, “you can go into rut, I can stop hating myself for wanting you to go into rut, you fuck me… I say a lot of things I don’t mean, and in a few days we can laugh about how sad we both are not having kids?”

Tony paused and considered it for a moment.

“I’m going to say things I don’t mean, too”.

Bucky nodded.

Tony was all over him.

Bucky managed to wrestle the shirt Tony was wearing up over his head, and then he managed to get his mouth all over the Alphas chest and abs and it was perfect. Tony was all whipcord muscle and tan heated skin, the arc reactor and it’s beaming light felt hot against his tongue and Tony stared up at him wide eyed for a moment, like he assumed Bucky would have avoided it for some reason, even though it was Tony who had dedicated hours of his time into knowing Bucky’s own metal body parts with intimacy like no other.

Tony’s hands made their way into the back of Bucky’s pants, squeezing his ass.

“Fuck, you’re so wet,” the alpha groaned.

Bucky blushed scarlet, “Sorry,” he mumbled.

Tony growled, “Want to make you wetter,” he said, and a moment later Bucky was on his back, “Wanna taste you,” the alpha growled again, pulling Bucky’s pants off his legs.

Bucky’s face felt very warm, and Tony’s dark eyes gave him an appreciative once over before the alpha was kissing and biting his way down Bucky’s abdomen.

The alpha gave his cock a quick lick from root to tip before continuing down, down and then—

“Oh fuck!” Bucky hissed.

Tony hummed happily, mouth against the soaking skin of Bucky’s entrance, kissing, licking, dragging his teeth against sensitive and heated flesh.

The alpha pushed Bucky’s legs further apart, lifting them over his shoulders.

Bucky was moaning and cursing a blue streak at the feeling of the man’s tongue inside him. Bucky could feel the wet from his body and Tony’s saliva dripping down the seam of his ass.

Bucky was withering on the bed, hands clutching the sheet, metal digits close to tearing the cotton.

Tony’s finger joined his tongue.

“Oh, fuck. Yes, yes please alpha. Please,” He whined.

He needed more, needed Tony’s cock filling him up.

“Want you to come like this, baby. Wanna make a mess of this pretty little ass. Get you all loose for my cock,” The alpha’s voice was like fire rushing through Bucky’s body.

Bucky didn’t need to be told twice. He reached down with his flesh hand to his cock. He didn’t really need to stroke it much, instead just pressed his palm to the base and ground against his hand and Tony’s face in equal parts before he was gasping and moaning Tony’s name. His cock spurting thick lines of white up his chest and his ass clenching, what felt like a wave of slick slipping from his hole.

Tony continued to finger him open and lick at his hole until the after shocks of his orgasm faded.

When the alpha sat back, he wiped his chin off on the back of his hand and it made Bucky flush with embarrassment. Tony grinned, then he was kissing Bucky.

The omega made a squeak of a protest, but the alpha’s tongue forced its way into his mouth. Bucky could taste himself, sharp and a little bit sweet, as Tony plundered his mouth. It was oh so very Tony Stark that Bucky almost wanted to roll his eyes. The sheer sloppiness of the kiss shouldn’t have been as hot as it was, but Bucky just had to hang on and enjoy the ride at this point. He never wanted to stop.

Bucky’s hands were all over Tony’s back, when he realized the alpha still had pants on.

“Off” he hissed, pulling at the tight fabric of his jeans. “Now” Buck added.

Tony chuckled, pulling away far enough to start on his belt.

Bucky didn’t realize he was whining with his impatience until Tony was laughing again.

“Wanna suck you” Bucky said, and Tony stopped laughing and started wiggling out of his jeans much faster after that.

When Bucky did get his mouth on the alpha, they both moaned.

Tony was long, curved in a way Bucky knew would feel amazing inside him. He didn't bother to compare him to Steve, in fact, the blond alpha was the furthest thing from Bucky's mind at the moment. He was thinking of all the positions the curve of Tony's cock would drag over Bucky's prostate, maybe even if he bounced himself in the alpha’s lap to wring pleasure from both of them.

The scent of alpha was unbearably strong, and Bucky buried his nose in the course hair at the base, breathing deep.

Then tried to choke himself on the length, mostly because Tony sounded incredible when he did.

“Oh fuck, Bucky. You’re so good at that, fu—uck” and the alpha had a hand on the back of his head, not pushing or pulling—not yet.

Bucky did his best to relax his throat, swallowing around the head and not letting his embarrassment at the chocking and gagging sounds slow his enthusiasm in the least.

Tony moaned, both hands going to Bucky’s hair now, one wrapping the long strands around his fist and away from Bucky's face, the other guiding his head gently.

Bucky moaned softly, bobbing his head along the length to get his point across. He looked up at Tony, who smirked down at him before he began slowly thrusting his hips into Bucky’s mouth.

He was a little rougher than Bucky was used to, but he really didn’t mind. He liked it even. By the time Tony was roughly pulling Bucky’s hair to get him to pull off, the omega’s throat felt raw, and he had tears in his eyes and spit down his chin.

Tony stroked his spit covered cock, and then pulled Bucky down a little further, ordering him to “lick” and forcing his face into the other mans balls. Bucky did as requested, Tony’s cock resting hard, wet, and hot on his face while he did.

“Beautiful” Tony breathed. Bucky’s face heated, not that Tony could tell from where he was.

Bucky couldn’t get enough of that heady alpha scent, so strong where his face was pressed, and his body wanted to remind him painfully of his actual task a few moments later with a sharp twinge of pain in his stomach.

He groaned, “Fuck me now,” he said, pulling away. Tony let him.

“Now _you’re_ not very polite” Tony laughed as Bucky wiped spit and pre-come off his face with a half-hearted glare.

Bucky shrugged, smiling only for Tony to lean up and grab him by the hair again, this time to drag him up towards the alpha.

Bucky hissed in pain, but then he found himself moaning because it didn’t actually hurt the way he assumed it would with the strength Tony used. Instead Bucky’s mouth fell open and his eyes rolled back. “Oh,” he gasped.

Tony chuckled, “What’s the point of all that hair if you don’t use it?”.

Bucky was on his back now, Tony leaning over him. He still had one hand in Bucky’s hair.

“Why does that feel _good,_ ” He groaned, arching into Tony’s body.

Tony laughed darkly into his ear again, “You’re an omega in heat, everything is supposed to feel good”.

Which was true. Everything felt amazing and Bucky fucking needed Tony like, seventy years ago.

The alpha was reaching for a box on the nightstand. It wasn’t Bucky’s, and he had no idea when or where it came from, but Tony was pulling out a condom.

“No,” Bucky whined. That fertility hormone was spiking again, he could smell it on himself.

“Bucky,” Tony growled.

“I’m clean, I can’t catch anything—I haven’t been with Steve in weeks—” He blabbered.

Maybe Tony didn’t want his cock where Steve’s had been, maybe he thought Bucky was dirty?

Tony growled, “Don’t care about _Steve_. Just trying to be safe”.

Bucky whined again. Bucky didn’t care about that. Bruce said the pill thing worked and Bucky had taken it yesterday! He needed Tony to hurry up and get inside him.

“Alpha please, want your come in me,” he moaned, whorish, “Want to feel it deep inside when you knot me. _Breed me, please_ ”.

Tony growled, his eyes bleeding into red again. His fingers tightened on the condom.

“Come on, please, alpha?” Bucky kept going, watching Tony try and blink the red away but fail the first few times. “Need your come, alpha. Need you to put a baby in me. Knock me up. Need it, Alpha”.

The red wasn’t going away, though he could tell Tony was still trying. Bucky took the condom from his hand and tossed it away. “Fuck me raw, it’s okay. Please, alpha? Wont I be pretty all fat with your baby in me?” he whispered into the alphas ear.

Tony’s growl was _loud_.

Bucky felt himself go weak, a rush of slick leaking from him at the sound. He moaned softly.

Tony’s eyes stayed red.

He was always so quick to blink the alpha red away that Bucky had never really gotten a good look before.

They weren’t like Steve’s, that were a pure, almost vibrant red. Tony’s eyes were deep, dark—almost like the ironman suit and streaked in _black_.

It would be terrifying if it wasn’t so hot.

It still was vaguely terror inducing though –and Tony wasn’t exactly trying, which Bucky thought was strange. Alpha tricks didn’t work on him anymore, not since the war and being captured the first time by Zola. He didn’t have the mind to think about it now, though.

Tony shoved one of Bucky’s legs up over the alphas shoulder, then sunk two fingers roughly into his hole, making Bucky gasp and arch his back.

“Gunna look so beautiful,” Tony’s voice sounded wrecked again. The hand not roughly fucking him covered Bucky’s belly, fingers splayed across his abs.

Bucky wouldn’t have them, once he was pregnant. He’d be so soft and round without any of that hard muscle Hydra had loved so much. His chest would be so sensitive and sore as the tissue began to change, too, he thought, gently pinching his nipple.

Tony was pulling his fingers free, grabbing a pillow and shoving it under Bucky’s hips. Then he frowned and grabbed another one. “There,” he said, “gunna make sure it _takes,_ ” he whispered, threatening in Bucky’s ear.

Bucky shuddered. Fuck, yes, he needed that. He spread his legs even further, tilted his hips up just right. “Yes, Alpha,” he moaned.

Tony hissed, “Fuck yeah, you were made for this, weren’t you, Bucky. Look how good you are for me. Perfect little omega,” he was whispering.

Bucky felt the hot tip of his cock nudging at his entrance. “Please, please, please,” he started chanting.

He was silent as Tony’s cock breached him. His mouth fell open on a silent moan.

It was _so good_. The alpha’s cock felt hotter than even Bucky’s burning insides. The slide was perfectly slick and wet, and Bucky would be embarrassed by how ridiculously wet he was if it didn’t also mean he was ripe and fertile, and if Tony wasn’t growling in his ear about how perfect it was.

The alpha didn’t give him time to adjust, there was no reason to. He started with slow but hard thrusts, that curve dragging along Bucky’s walls at the _perfect_ angle.

“Listen to that, baby,” Tony growled, nipping at his ear and drawing attention to the filthy wet sounds of his slick hole, “So wet for me. Begging me to breed this fucking cunt”.

Oh, God. Tony’s mouth. He really should have foreseen that the man would be an avid dirty talker. Maybe he had. It didn’t matter. Bucky love it.

“Yes, yes, fuck Tony. I’ll be so good” Bucky moaned in response, “I’ll give you the strongest pups, alpha. I can be so good for breeding, I know it, alpha. I promise. So good”.

Tony groaned, a shred of human in there again if his smirk was anything to go off.

“That right, Bucky?” he whispered, smug as always—but Bucky didn’t care because he was speeding up those perfectly deep thrusts and making Bucky's eyes roll back into his head with a grip on his hair again. Bucky’s back curved, his head pulled back to reveal his throat. Bucky felt exposed, especially knowing how bare his skin was now. “Thinking of a career change? Avenger to pretty omega breeding bitch?” and the alpha gave a sharp nip to Bucky’s throat. “I think that’s a _great_ idea,” the alpha growled, fucking him faster, punching little sounds from Bucky with every trust.

Tony’s words spurring him on, he could feel heat pooling low in his gut. He felt himself clenching around the cock inside him, trying to coax the alphas knot. He wanted whatever Tony was saying, he’s pretty sure he said that out loud, too.

He had a clear image of himself spread open in Tony’s bed as the alpha fucked him hard and quick, filling him up before going to work everyday—Bucky’s cock hard and neglected. Another image of himself bending over one of the tables in the workshop, dropping his pants just enough for the alpha to get to his hole—cock trapped, and again neglected. The alpha filling him up and shoving a plug in his ass. Tony wanted to make sure it would take, after all. He had said so already. That’s why Bucky had his hip tilted up now, so that when the alpha coated his insides in his seed, gravity would help soak his waiting womb in it. Bucky was pretty sure the head of Tony’s cock was bumping up against his open cervix anyway, so Bucky was sure it would.

“You like that, don’t you?” Tony growled again, “Wanna be my pretty kept whore? Gunna let me breed this cunt whenever I want?” he was rambling, then slowed his hips to grind his cock as deep as he could—the motion sending a sharp stab of pleasure-pain that faded into a delicious ache and made Bucky shout, unable to respond. He’s sure his face looked stupid, mouth agape, eyes rolling back. He had both hands above him on the headboard to stop his head from banging into it with every thrust.

“You’re fucking perfect for breeding,” Tony hissed, “Feel so good on my cock, you’re gunna take my knot so good. Like you were _made_ for this, god damn, Bucky”.

Tony had one hand keeping Bucky’s leg up over his shoulder, using it to bend the omega nearly in half. His other arm was braced beside Bucky’s head—making him feel _held_ somehow.

Steve never talked to him like this. No one had ever talked to him like this. Not even when he was desperate and in heat in the middle of the war, surrounded by five alphas for every one omega did he hear someone tell him he was _made_ for breeding, or even for taking a knot—which he literally _was_. Every alpha he had ever been with, had made a point to mention how ‘different’ Bucky was, being tall and broad and not (usually) prone to begging. Tony—and he’s sure it was amplified by the rut—was making him feel small, and pretty, and like a real omega in a way he’s sure most ‘real’ omegas would be very pissed about and Bucky was pretty sure he was going to come.

He did. He came hard, too—and completely untouched.

He had never done that before. He didn’t need much contact on his cock when he was in heat, but he always needed some. Usually a quick squeeze of a hand, or the friction on the sheets from rubbing himself against the bed, but this time… this time his cock jumped and twitched and that blinding white pleasure rocketed through his body out of _no where_.

“Oh, oh, oh fuck” he was gasping, watching it happening with rapt attention even as the orgasm shook through his body. “Fuck alpha, ‘m _coming_ , fuck”.

He could hear the surprise in his own voice.

God, Tony didn’t even have to _do_ anything.

Bucky was then pulled away from staring at his own mess splattered across his stomach, when Tony’s growl turned into a deep pleased purring, and the alpha gave another sharp stab of a thrust and proceeded to grind his cock up against Bucky’s walls, his cervix, drawing out more wet filthy sounds, and his knot began to swell.

“Fuck, yes alpha, give me your knot please—” Bucky whined, and then gasped as he felt the first twitch of Tony’s cock as the alpha came, buried so deep that yeah, it hurt a little but in the good way and oh god, he could scent the alpha’s come. It was nothing like Steve. _Tony was giving him a baby._

Bucky’s cock jumped again, heat rushing through him for a blinding second—his cock doing nothing but oozing a little into the not inconsiderable pool of come already there, but it was fine because it still felt just as good as the last one (less than a minute prior, holy shit) and made that much better because Tony was coming in him at the same time. Growling and purring simultaneously—a beautiful and animalistic sound happening into the junction of his metal shoulder and throat.

Bucky wouldn’t say he could feel the alphas come, exactly… but he knew it was a lot because it felt unbearably hot, warming him further from the inside—as if Bucky wasn’t already burning up in this heat—and he felt even wetter. Though, he had also just come twice as well… But Bucky knew. Somehow, he just knew that Tony had given him so much come and now, the thick swell of a knot plugging him up, the alpha was rubbing firm circles into Bucky’s belly. Smearing him with his own spend, and massaging his uterus, stimulating his body loose and open for the alpha’s seed.

“Oh god, yes Tony, please, make sure it takes. I need it so bad. Fuck, you feel so good—I’m so full of your come, you’re gunna knock me up, alpha. Gunna have a baby”.

“ _My baby_ ” Tony growled menacingly and completely out of it, the alpha’s hips still moving in a slow grind, shooting waves of achey pleasure-pain through Bucky as the alpha watched himself rubbing the space where their pup would grow.

“Yes” Bucky gasped, “Yours. Your baby, Tony”.

Bucky might pass out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :)


	5. Chapter Five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone has insecurities. Tony and Bucky are not exempt from this, but they make it work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's just porn. Porn with a touch of feelings. Mostly porn, though.

Bucky had definitely passed out.

He woke on his side, the light a litter dimmer, so maybe an hour or so later, with Tony’s cock still inside him. Moving.

He moaned, a hint of confusion even as he arched his back to give the alpha more of himself.

“’m sorry, Bucky—fucking rut… it won’t go away” Tony was panting.

Exhausted, Bucky just hummed, “It’s okay, Tony” he mumbled, “Jus’ be gentle. Take what you need” and he felt himself drifting again, not quite asleep, but floating near there while able to feel Tony gently thrusting into his sopping hole.

It was Bucky’s fault the alpha was in rut, anyway. He had no problem laying here while Tony got himself off inside his body if that’s what his alpha needed.

Bucky’s heat had cleared a bit, not that it would last long before another wave of desperate need passed over him—especially with Tony still in rut.

It gave Bucky a minute to think.

Tony’s scent was _amazing_. It was heavy and rich and warm—but sharp at the same time. Reminded him of a hot sweaty day at the beach and the workshop some strange and heady combination. It was so ‘alpha’ Bucky could laugh, but instead he thought it was stupidly sexy instead.

Tony’s voice. God, no one had ever spoken to Bucky like that. Neither with such a rough and animalistic tone, nor anything even closely resembling the actual content of the words. Bucky is sure he should feel objectified, humiliated, and angry by the kinds of things the alpha had said. Jesus, Tony had called him a _bitch_ for crying out loud. But Bucky loved it.

He just hoped Tony didn’t call all his partners those sorts of things.

Tony’s eyes. They were honestly terrifying. He’s pretty sure if he saw them glowing from a distance in the dark, Bucky in all his Winter Soldier glory, would drop to his knees to bare his throat—the man looked blood thirsty. It made Bucky feel incredible to know that he had caused that gaze, and that he was what Tony was thirsty for. The attention made him feel invincible.

The alpha was grunting behind Bucky, gripping his hip tightly—not deep enough it seemed. Bucky rolled over on his belly, and Tony growled low and angry as losing contact. That sent a hot spike of arousal through the omega. His alpha didn’t like being denied.

Bucky spread his thighs silently in offer and Tony caught on with a more pleased grunt.

A moment later, the alpha had his cock shoved right back into Bucky’s tender hole and was laying draped almost protectively over Bucky’s prone form while he rutted into him.

“Good omega,” he purred in Bucky’s ear.

He shivered, “Mmm, alpha” Bucky slurred.

Pleasure was building again, the next wave of his heat. Bucky didn’t care though, just shifted enough to let Tony really get his cock wear he wanted it to be and laid there, moaning softly.

“Good boy,” Tony said again, “Just lay there and take it like a good little bitch,” he was panting.

Bucky felt another jolt of w _ant_ that was amplified when he forced himself to be still for his alpha.

Didn’t stop himself from talking though, or at least trying, “mhm, your bi’ch alpha. Use me…” he was slurring awful hard. Couldn’t really get his eyes to focus either. Fucking heat. It always made him stupid as time went on.

Tony’s thrusts began to lose their rhythm, and then a moment later the alpha gave one last deep and punishing thrust before his knot started swelling and Bucky felt the twitching of the cock inside him as Tony painted his insides with more come.

Bucky moaned wanton, but he didn’t move—just as his alpha said.

“Fuck Bucky. So good. So good for me—look at you. Just taking it like a perfect little doll” he grunted. He had one hand on the back of Bucky’s head, pushing him gently into the pillows, hips jerking a little, even as his knot tied them together again.

Bucky had a little smile on his face, even as he nuzzled back into the pillow, getting comfortable as if there wasn’t a rock-hard cock and knot shoved up inside him.

Tony collapsed gently on top of him, only for a second though—Bucky could feel the sharp edge of the arc reactor against his back, Tony probably didn’t like it on the other end much either. He rolled them back onto their sides, and curled protectively around Bucky, his nose buried in Bucky’s hair.

“Sorry,” he whispered, voice still wrecked.

Bucky smiled, “’s good. Feels nice. Like your knot,” he mumbled.

Tony chuckled, “That’s good, you’re stuck with it for another twenty minutes,” and Bucky could feel the smile against his hair.

“I’m gunna be horny as fuck in twenty minutes,” Bucky informed with a chuckle of his own.

Tony purred his agreement, nosing at the back of Bucky’s neck.

Tony could bite him there. Mate him. Mark him.

Bucky missed being marked.

“Unrelated,” Tony said suddenly, but still nosing against Bucky’s glands like he couldn’t get enough, “But was that the first time you’ve come untouched?” He asked, smile in his voice, “You looked _confused_ ”.

Bucky felt himself flush. “Yeah, I uh—usually need a little bit of uh… touch” he mumbled; happy Tony couldn’t see his face.

Tony let out a pleased growl. “That does great things to my ego” he said, hips twitching against Bucky.

Bucky giggled nervously, “I also came twice in like… a minute”.

Tony cursed, arms tightening around Bucky with another happy little growl.

“Are you always this… _growly_ in bed? Or is this a rut thing?” Bucky couldn’t see him to know if he’d managed to shake off the effects of his rut yet.

He hoped not.

Bucky felt the alpha shrug behind him the best he could, not giving a definite answer.

“Or maybe I’m just special” Bucky teased, wiggling a little against the other man cheekily.

Tony growled again, this more of a warning than anything. His grip tightened on Bucky’s hips. The omega keened softly, going pliant on the alpha’s arms.

Satisfied with his display of power, Tony returned to nosing along Bucky’s neck.

Still in rut then.

Tony moved Bucky’s sweat-soaked hair out of the way of his path. He licked the side of Bucky’s throat, the scent gland there. Opposite of where Steve’s mark had been. Tony continued sniffing along the shoulder seam of metal and flesh, then back up again.

It felt nice. Tony’s beard tickled and scraped, pulling breathy little laughs from the omega. He could tell that Tony was changing the scent in the air by doing it. Rubbing his own scent against Bucky’s scent glands. A poor way to combine their scents really, considering Bucky was no longer Steve’s.

Oops. Here come the stupid thoughts. Or _stupider_ he supposed.

“Will you… leave bruises there?” Bucky’s mouth was asking quietly.

Tony made another low and pleased hum, “Yeah?” he asked, breathless but looking for confirmation, for consent.

Bucky nodded, then admitted “It’s weird not having a mark.” Then he muttered, mostly to himself, “You should leave ten—at least that Steve can find”.

Tony growled, deep and possessive. Bucky wasn’t sure exactly how he knew that it was _possessive_ exactly but Tony’s mouth latching onto the back of his neck, biting and kissing and sucking bruises into the nubs of his spine definitely had a possessive air to it.

Bucky would probably regret it later, if the marks did manage to last the next two days.

He healed fast, it was possible that when he saw he Avengers next the evidence of what Tony and Bucky did here would be gone.

He hoped not.

Maybe Bucky would wear his hair up. Nat had shown him how to tie it up in a messy bun that was loose enough around his face he didn’t mind the feeling so much. It got his hair off the back of his neck when he was sweaty in the gym, so it wasn’t like it would be too obvious what he was doing.

What was he doing, anyway?

 _Showing off_.

He shivered, imagining Nat’s knowing grin when she noticed the marks. Bruce’s subtle snort of laughter before he schooled the expression. Maybe they’d run into Coulson or Fury—the other alphas would turn their nose up, bristle at the obvious display of ownership.

Bucky’s hips were getting restless. He felt a low whine building in his throat.

Tony’s knot was going down now, and he could feel wetness leaking along the crease of his ass and thigh and onto the sheets. A mix of them both, the scent of it set his senses ablaze all over again. Tony’s sweaty-sea salt-motor oil combination wrapped up in Bucky’s own omega scent.

“Mmm,” Tony was humming against his skin, hips still pressed firmly against Bucky, “We smell so _nice_ together,” he rumbled against Bucky’s back.

They shouldn’t, but they did.

Tony was all burning heat and sweat. Blazing summer sun beaming down on hot metal. His scent --the way the metal of the arc reactor tasted on Bucky’s tongue.

Bucky’s scent was, for lack of a better word _, flowery_. Completely at odds with his own icy and muscular demeanour, as well as Tony’s hypermasculine scent.

Bucky had been accused of wearing fake omega hormones a few times, that’s how much he smelled like a damn perfume bottle. His scent, when he wasn’t in heat and reeking with hormones, was gentle and almost delicate compared to Nat’s melted sugar and Bruce’s caramel sweet.

Steve had described it as _dusty_. It tickled his nose when Bucky went into heat. It made the alpha laugh, and Bucky couldn’t help but smile at the memory.

“You’re only saying that because your scent’s stronger,” Bucky giggled at Tony’s beard between his shoulder blades now.

Tony groaned softly, gently staring to fuck into Bucky’s body again. The sounds of all that slick and come made Bucky flush darkly.

“You’re my favourite season,” Tony panted nonsensically.

Bucky was moaning quietly from the back of his throat, his heat making it’s needs known.

“Smell like spring,” the alpha mumbled before pushing Bucky back over on his front and following him without taking his cock from where it was still impossibly hard inside the omega.

“Oh,” Bucky gasped, delighted.

Tony pulled him up onto his hands and knees, Bucky groaned.

The alpha grabbed a fistful of Bucky’s hair and used it to pull the omegas head to the side, exposing his throat again. Bucky shivered. At this rate, the alpha was going to leave beard burn all over Bucky’s pale throat—it wouldn’t matter even if he did still have a bond mark, Tony’s stubble burning the oversensitive flesh pink and red.

Tony’s other hand held Bucky’s hip in a vice grip, and he leaned over the omega to kiss and bite the skin he’d revealed for himself. Bucky could feel the weight on the alpha over him—and although he knew a regular omega wouldn’t be able to support an alpha leaning so heavily on them without collapsing, Bucky didn’t mind. The position had Tony’s cock dragging across his prostate with every thrust of his hips. Tony was still making him feel more like an omega than he ever had, pulling his hair harder and harder to get him to arch his back until Bucky’s flesh arm was shaking trying to keep himself stable against the alpha thrusting hard against him.

Bucky thought Tony might be doing it on purpose, testing him. The alpha purred in satisfaction when it was only the metal prosthetic and Tony’s grip on his hair that kept the omega from falling over.

Still a scientist, even balls deep rutting into an omega in heat. Figures.

The scent of Tony’s come and Bucky’s slick was even more powerful as the alphas cock, coated in their fluids, pushed in and out of Bucky’s hole.

 _Spring,_ that’s what Tony said they smelt like.

He was right.

Tony’s scent of hot metal and sweaty skin catching on a sea breeze, Bucky’s flowery and refreshing sweetness… It was like that first real hot day in _spring_.

Bucky’s omega brain really liked that. It meant they were _compatible_.

The thought had him shaking and clenching around Tony, cursing and moaning his pleasure but completely unintelligible.

They’d already played out Bucky’s (and perhaps Tony’s too) breeding fantasy, so Bucky almost wanted to be pissed that he could smell himself releasing that damn fertility hormone again and turning their mingling scents into something heavy. Amplifying Bucky’s own scent to take on a thick, humid nature where it hung around them—coating the alphas senses in that sweet omega scent and fogging up his other senses. God, if he kept this up then Tony was going to be in rut for two days straight.

The alpha seemed to notice that too. Growling, not altogether happy, but his scent didn’t change to give away any real displeasure, so Bucky just smiled and moaned out a quick “sorry, Tony,” before he lost his breath again.

“You smell like a god damn baby factory,” Tony groaned, sinking his teeth hard enough into Bucky’s shoulder that the omega froze for a heart stopping second, before going completely pliant. The only thing that kept Bucky upright was his metal arm that had locked in the elbow at some point and didn’t want to move, and Tony’s grip in his hair that was suddenly very tight— holding the weight of Bucky’s head.

Then Bucky panicked—body tensing. Because for a moment he was sure Tony was going to _bite_ him—Bucky knew the exact amount of pressure needed to break the skin and Tony had come _very_ close. The alpha obviously knowing what he was doing though—it’s not like Tony Stark had a harem of accidental mates—but that wasn’t the concern. The concern was Bucky’s body having gone nearly slack under Tony’s mouth. _Willing_.

Tony’s grip softened in his hair, then he was petting him gently, stilling his hips without pulling out.

“Sorry, I shouldn’t have uh…” Tony whispered, nervous.

Bucky found himself pushing up into Tony’s hand as he was being petted.

Heart still pounding, Bucky willed himself to let go of the tension in his body. “It’s fine,” he said, voice raspy, “It wasn’t… you” Bucky said, awkwardly and not making much sense.

He gathered the courage to look over his shoulder and look at Tony for the first time since their first round.

Tony was biting his lip, his mouth was beautifully red from kissing and sucking Bucky’s skin. His cheeks were pink, hair sticking up at different angles with sweat. Tony was looking down and away—hiding his still red eyes. He nearly looked meek, but for his iron grip still on Bucky’s hip that belied the show he was putting on.

Bucky tried again, “It was instincts…” he whispered, tracking Tony’s micro expressions, “mine, not yours” he clarified. He wasn’t sure what Tony would think he meant, but he didn’t want to worry about it right now.

Honestly, he was nearing the point where he wouldn’t even have cared if Tony had bitten him a little harder. He was in heat, he was cursed to be baby crazy, and he was un-mated and a little sad about it so just _shut up and fuck him_. He said that last bit out loud and with a pointed shift of his own hips, leaving out the part about not caring if Tony mated him, of course.

It was enough to bring the alpha out of his self-depreciating thoughts with a chuckle, and when he looked up and Bucky saw those blood red eyes, he made a strangled noise caught between shock and pride and arousal.

Tony blinked, snarled when the colour still didn’t clear, and looked away again. Bucky made a hurt noise, tried to catch his eye again but the alpha took Bucky’s jaw in his hand and made him turn his head back toward the headboard.

Frowning, Bucky realised that besides the few moments he observed Tony trying to force the redness away the first time, he didn’t get much of a chance to see Tony’s face. The alpha had buried his face in Bucky’s throat –not unusual— or had been looking down at the places their bodies were joined with a smug, or rapt look on his face.

Heat brain or no, Bucky could tell Tony was doing it on purpose.

“Alpha, please,” Bucky was whining, wiggling against Tony’s chest.

Bucky didn’t want Tony to hide his eyes—Bucky had worked damn hard to bring them out, after all.

“Take me, alpha,” he gasped, feeling Tony’s hand go from petting to gripping again, “Need your rut” he heard himself purr, sultry. God, he was being everything Steve hated about omega’s right now. Desperate and willing to do _anything_ to get an alpha on them. Shifting his hips, fucking himself on Tony’s cock as much as the hand in his hair would let him –and wasn’t that a heady thought— he breathed a correction, “ _Want_ your rut, Tony”.

Tony hissed, hand tightening in his hair and then dropping away to grip his other hip, guiding him back and forth along the shaft.

“Bucky,” the alpha gritted.

The alphas voice was tight and strained, _god_ , Bucky thought, _how is he still holding back_? Bucky needed him to lose control—needed _all_ of him.

Bucky knew he used to be good with words, not so much these days—but he was willing to try. Whining, Bucky said, “Please, I wanna be good for you, Tony,” fucking himself as hard as the alpha’s hands would let him. “I can be so good, just show me—” he gasped, Tony’s cock brushing his prostate.

Tony wasn’t moving, though he didn’t seem to want Bucky to stop, not with the way he was guiding his hips like he was.

Bucky didn’t mean for his insecurities to escape during dirty talk, but his head was a mess with his heat and broken bond, and of course, Bucky’s past trauma. Bucky’s body needed the alpha to fuck him stupid, he felt horribly unwanted every time he thought of his unmarked throat, and Bucky was so, so tired of being ‘not just an omega’ because he was _tall_.

“I can be a good omega, Tony” he whispered, voice shaking, “I can be, I can,” and both arms were shaking a little, “I _want_ to be a good omega, Tony—” he was whimpering, metal arm finally deciding to give in, Bucky buried his face in the sheets, _oh god, don’t start crying_ he thought desperately. “Please, please, please,” he whimpered, no longer trying to fuck himself—his hips just rocking against the alpha pathetically. “Please make me a good omega” he whispered, sounding _broken_.

Tony growled, low and dangerous, Bucky felt his hips jolt forward and his hands grip tighter. Serum or no, he would have a bruise soon.

Leaning over Bucky’s back again, Tony’s voice had that perfectly destroyed and gravely roughness again, “You _are_ good” he said, “you’re perfect”.

Bucky whined, shaking his head, “You don’t want me” fuck, he was crying—luckily his face was hidden in the pillow, “I made you rut and you don’t—” he hiccuped, “you don’t want it”.

Bucky wanted to curl up and _die_ of embarrassment. Especially when Tony made a terrible noise, before pulling out of Bucky’s body. Bucky still whined at the loss, even though he expected the rejection.

He didn’t expect Tony to roughly roll him onto his back, though, which is the only reason the alpha was able to manage it. Tony’s face was hovering over his, eyes still refusing to be seen, the alpha hand both hands on Bucky’s face, swiping at the moisture around his eyes.

Bucky heard himself whining, but couldn’t stop the sound, staring up at the alpha who wouldn’t even look at him.

“Fuck, oh jesus fuck Bucky, no” Tony was hissing, “I want this—I—fuck, ‘m so bad at words, fuck,” he was saying, he closed his eyes and rested their foreheads together, breathing deep.

“Bucky, you’re perfect. You’re doing so good, baby” Tony whispered, “You’re making me feel amazing, just like you’re supposed to”.

Bucky blinked, making a noise in the back of his throat.

“Best omega I’ve ever had” he continued to whisper, eyes closed. “So sensitive, so needy—I love it” that part he hissed, then chuckled softly, “Fuck baby, you’re even crying for me you’re so desperate,” and that was almost a purr, almost as if Tony… as if he _liked_ it.

Bucky shivered.

“But you keep…” Bucky trailed off, “you won’t even look at me” he whispered back into the small amount of shared space that they had between their mouths, into the air they were breathing into each other.

Tony’s hands flexed on his face.

“Fuck,” he said, as if realising something.

Bucky whimpered, “Why won’t you look at me?”.

Tony growled, “I don’t… it’s not you, Bucky. It’s—I’ve been told it’s better that when I don’t,” He ground out.

Bucky wiggled pathetically, whining, frustrated. He didn’t agree. He needed to see his alpha’s eyes, see the red he’d put there. He needed to know he was _good_.

“I’m not Steve” Tony whispered.

Bucky let out a growl of his own, though it was more of a hiss than anything. His hands balled into fists in the sheets. “Don’t want Steve” he cried, “Want you—please, alpha, Tony. Fuck, please, please, _please want me_ —just... just pretend, I don’t care I just need—".

Tony’s growl was angry, and so was his scent.

Instinctively, Bucky went limp and turned his head to offer his throat. He didn’t bother lowering his eyes, because Tony’s had been closed.

Until they weren’t.

Bucky gasped.

Tony scowled.

Up close, he could make out every detail of the alpha’s eyes.

His eyes were pools of blood red, unusual but not uncommon, yes, and bright –almost glowing, like a normal alpha’s eyes. The difference was the black stripes that Bucky noticed like rays from the black sun of his pupil. They weren’t _all_ black though. Some were red too. Just very dark, rusted. _Dried_ blood. That part of his eyes didn’t glow or shine the way alpha’s eyes were supposed to, though. The rays looked similar to the black ones because they weren’t catching light _at all_.

“I don’t need to _pretend_ ” he spat, holding Bucky’s wide-eyed gaze.

Bucky barely heard him, though. He was enraptured by the alpha’s eyes. Bucky was barely breathing. He was _afraid_ and he was _mesmerized._

The red of an alpha’s eyes served many purposes, mostly revolving around the act of mating and breeding. The red heightened the alpha’s senses –made them more aware of potential threats to their chosen omega. The secondary function was inflicting _fear_ for the purpose of protecting a mate and pups, or for _catching_ a mate on a hunt.

That’s what Tony was doing now. Spiking a jolt of fear into Bucky with his three-toned eyes that were unlike anything he’d ever seen before.

The thing was… Bucky was the _Winter Soldier_.

That fear tactic had stopped working even before he was brainwashed, and then Hydra taught him a thousand new ways to make sure it never worked to be sure no one got the drop on their asset.

But Bucky couldn’t _move_.

He heard himself whining again, this time high pitched and with a note of that fear.

 _Oh god_ , Tony was _terrifying_.

 _Oh god_ , Tony was _perfect_.

Bucky’s body was making that fertility hormone again. He wanted it to. He put effort into it now.

Tony could protect their babies from _anyone_ with eyes like that.

The alpha looked confused, blinking down at him.

“Fuck—Bucky, what?” He hissed through his teeth.

It was enough that Bucky no longer felt frozen and pinned by his gaze, so he wiggled around until Tony backed off a little.

Bucky rolled over and offered himself up for his alpha. He didn’t say anything, not trusting his voice.

“Oh my god, Bucky,” Tony was whispering in disbelief. “Are you… are you fucking _presenting_ for me?”.

Really, could he be any more obvious? He whined in impatience.

“You can’t be serious,” Tony croaked.

Bucky needed him.

“ _Alpha,_ ” he whined, breathy, “Need you. _Please_ , gimmie your pups, oh god” he moaned, feeling his hole clench desperately around nothing. “I promise they’ll be so strong. I’ll be so good—just, just please oh fuck, _please,_ you’re such a good alpha, I need you. _Please_ ”.

Bucky had his ass up in the air, face down on the bed, legs spread wide for the alpha, hands gripping his cheeks to hold himself open. There was slick and come dripping out of him and down his balls, cold and slippery.

It was horribly degrading, to present for an alpha these days.

It was such a terrible omega stereotype and expectation that Bucky had never heard of an omega who actually did it willingly. Bucky never had before. He knew what to do though.

It was different then when Tony bent him over and fucked him, or even when Bucky’s arm gave out and he was still up on his knees. Presenting was all in the way an omega arched their back and spread their thighs, in the way they held their hole nice and open and pressed their own face into the pillow.

Tony was swearing, a steady stream of “Oh fuck, oh my fucking god, shit, Bucky”.

“Please,” he gasped desperately.

Then Tony was chanting, “Yes, yes, yes, oh fuck yes,” as Bucky heard him moving around behind him.

Bucky kept his eyes shut, his embarrassment at being brought down so low did not escape him just because he was in heat.

He whimpered when he felt Tony’s fingers in his hole. Flushing further, he almost let go of himself, but the alpha growled lowly, “Hold yourself open for me, baby. Let me see that pretty hole,” and Bucky was helpless to do anything else.

Bucky thought Tony might be _inspecting_ him, the way he poked at his rim, dragged a finger across his prostate, collected the fluid that was leaking out and pushing it back it, cold and rough and all the way inside.

Bucky also thought he might be crying again, he hoped Tony would like that. He picked his head up enough to look back at the alpha, blinked a few times to make the tears fall down his cheeks and then whined again, “ _Alpha_ ”.

Tony gave another of those pleased purring growls, “I’m gunna breed this sloppy little hole, then I’m gunna come all over your _fucking face_ , I swear to god Bucky you’re killing me,” and it was a threat and a curse and praise all at the same time. Tony had his other hand squeezing his cock.

Bucky smiled, purred.

When Tony did get inside him, again with no time to adjust before he was fucking him hard and rough and fast, the alpha kept _fucking_ talking.

“Perfect little hole, baby,” He praised, “feel like heaven on my cock, perfect fit” and the angle had him missing Bucky’s prostate, but absolutely nailing the spot that sent stabs of pleasure-pain through his gut.

Remembering Tony rubbing his belly to get as much of his seed in Bucky as possible, he placed his hand on his flat stomach, right below his navel and just… held. Hoping. Praying even.

“Aw, baby,” Tony cooed, “can’t wait to be all nice and fat, can you?”.

Bucky’s mouth fell open on a gasp, he couldn’t do much to close it, moaning and drooling into the pillow.

Tony grabbed his hair to turn his face, then let him fall with his cheek against the wetness, no longer able to hide completely, Bucky’s face heated further. He was pink from the tips of his ears right down to his belly he was sure.

God, now he could look at Tony out of the corner of his eye. Those fucking eyes, it was exhilarating. He’d be so good to their babies. Keeping them safe from anyone who might want to hurt them.

“Lost your voice, Bucky?” Tony chuckled. It was so much worse when he talked and looked at Bucky’s face, “Come on, sweetheart. Tell me what you want”.

“Want your pups, Tony” Bucky mewled.

“So fucking hot when you say that, baby”, Tony panted, leaning over to bite at his neck, dragging rough facial hair across sensitive skin. “How many are you gunna give me, pretty little omega like you?” Tony’s voice was teasing, but also fucking wrecked.

Bucky’s legs shook, he spread them further.

“As many as you put in me, alpha”.

Tony’s thrusts were getting faster, rougher, less controlled.

Bucky was getting so close, but he couldn’t get either arm to _move damnit_.

“Fuck, you’ll regret that I think”, he bit out.

Bucky would never regret having Tony’s baby. That was the opposite problem, actually. He said as much, “No, no never. Want your baby, oh please, please, Tony. As many as you want—I’m yours, gunna give you so many, so many I promise,” Bucky was a super-soldier, he could handle it.

Tony was shaking, “Yeah, yeah you will,” he hissed, “gunna let me knock you up whenever I want, won’t you?” he breathed raggedly.

Bucky could only nod.

He remembered his earlier fantasy of Tony bending him over to have his way in the workshop, keeping his omega full —he edited it now knowing he could come untouched, still trapped in his jeans if Tony wanted him like that.

“Gunna keep you all pretty and full all the time, fuck—all nice and round” he growled, snaking his hand down to press his palm to Bucky’s belly below his navel, it sent a shiver through his body.

Bucky was vaguely aware of the racket he was making, begging, crying, whining, moaning—everything at once.

He was more aware of Tony’s hips stuttering, the alpha thrusting in as deep as he could, hitting that pleasure-pain spot and rolling his hips into it once, twice—his hand put more pressure on Bucky’s womb and the world went dark—Bucky’s orgasm crashing into him like rolling waves, his hole clenching tight around the growing knot and heat of the alphas come filling him again.

He came back to reality, feeling Tony thrusting still with sharp little jabs of his hips, his hands roving over his belly, massaging his womb to open up.

Bucky moaned, wordlessly.

“Making sure it takes,” Tony whispered, reassuring.

Bucky made a happy noise, “Thank you, alpha,” he mumbled, or tried to. He was falling asleep again. “Gunna be a great dad” he thought to himself before sleep took him.

The last thing he heard before the world ceased to exist was Tony’s broken whisper, “Oh god, please let it take” in a horribly sad voice. Bucky frowned, but was asleep before he could get any words out.


	6. Chapter Six

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bucky knows what he wants, and it's an alpha who doesn't treat him like he's glass, or like he's a weapon. Tony is very good at not treating him like either, even if he's a little unsure about it all. It's alright, Bucky knows how to get his point across. This time, he doesn't even need to cry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys for all the comments! It was great to finish forty-something hours of homework and come back to see all the love! 
> 
> Are you getting tired of all the porn? Just three straight chapters of porn. Here's the last one before we jump back into the plot!

Bucky was warm, pleasantly so. He had his alpha at his back, the sun was streaming in the blinds. Big warm hands were covering his belly, swollen just a little with a growing pup. He had his fingers running gently through dark curls, silky soft and light. His son. He was stroking his fingers through his sleeping son’s hair. The boy, all dark lashes and chubby features, was curled against his chest, snoring softly, just three years old.

He pressed a kiss to his hair.

The room faded into his ma’s kitchen.

No, no, no he knew where this was going—

Bucky woke with a start.

He hated that dream.

He moved to get up, away from Steve who was gripping him tighter for some reason—

Tony.

“Bucky, Bucky, come here—” Tony whispered.

It was dark in the room, Tony looked like he had just woken up too. Bucky didn’t remember his knot going down, or the process of getting under the covers, but they had.

“I’m fine,” he mumbled, but let the alpha drag him back, the alpha curled around him.

It was just like his dream.

He stared unseeing at the empty place his son should be.

He clutched his flat stomach, squeezed his eyes shut —hoped Tony would let it be.

The alpha’s hands covered his own, warm, steady, protective.

Tears started to escape his eyes.

“Tell me,” Tony whispered.

Bucky felt so wrung out, so utterly _done_.

“Had a little boy…” He whispered into the darkness, “another one… still small but… growing,” he pressed his hands to his belly. Tony’s hands squeezed softly.

“Was sleeping in my arms… I kissed his head and then… and then… ma’s kitchen”.

He heard Tony hiss, maybe even grind his teeth.

Bucky let the tears flow.

“Just… just want…” he closed his eyes, couldn’t finish the sentence.

He wanted what this to be real, this game of house with Tony, this heat fantasy role play, he just wanted it to be _real_.

He focused on the warmth of Tony’s body and hands until the gentle, silent flow of tears stopped. Bucky’s breathing slowly evened out again. He might be able to fall asleep again with Tony's comforting warmth and scent around him, something he could never do after that dream.

“Shhh,” Tony whispered, “It’ll take,” he said, brokenly, and then again, squeezing Bucky's hands over his belly, “it’ll take”.

Bucky was aware he wasn’t the only one needing those words for comfort.

Tony’s face against his shoulder felt wet.

It occurred then that he probably woke because Bucky’s scent turned happy and content—maybe even faux pregnant, and then shifted suddenly into misery. Tony probably knew what he had been dreaming about before he'd even asked. Tony was perceptive like that, even when he tried hard not to let it show.

“It’ll take” Bucky repeated, and let himself be pulled back into unconsciousness.

***

He woke to dim morning light. He was alone.

Sitting up, Bucky looked around, panic building—there was something missing—what was it he was looking for?

“Hey you,” Tony said from the doorway in sweat pants with damp hair, smelling clean. He was holding two cups of coffee.

Tony’s eyes were whisky brown again.

Bucky flopped back on the bed.

“Do you ever sleep?” He asked the ceiling. How did the baseline human need less sleep and recovery than the super soldier in heat?

Tony chuckled, “I slept, four whole hours even”.

Bucky sat up, held his hands out for the coffee. Tony handed it over, it had a splash of milk and a teaspoon of sugar. He moaned, “Perfect”.

“Jay made breakfast,” Tony told him, smiling for some reason.

That was code for ‘Jarvis ordered food and Tony opened the door’, but it was all the same to him.

Tony was grinning into his cup… it made Bucky suspicious. He squinted at the other man.

“What?” Bucky asked.

Tony shook his head, taking a drink of his own coffee.

Rolling his eyes, Bucky let it go, and the two ate the waffles and fruit that Jarvis had delivered almost like they normally would, less their t-shirts and Tony’s grinning. He was glad things weren’t too weird between them, though they still had a few hours to change that.

When he declared he was going to shower, Tony positively giggled.

The reason for why was made apparent when Bucky caught a glimpse in the mirror.

“ _Holy shit_ ” he hissed, “Tony!” He yelled, loud enough for the alpha to hear him. He heard Tony laughing in the kitchen.

Bucky’s throat was covered in bruises, teeth marks, and beard burn from his jaw and halfway down his chest.

Tony appeared in the doorway, face innocent, “Yes, dear?” He smirked, as if he hadn't just been in stitches with his laughter a minute ago.

“You’re unbelievable,” Bucky said, unimpressed.

Tony dropped the innocent expression and laughed outright now.

“Not funny,” Bucky growled, without any heat.

Chuckling, Tony replied, “It’s a little funny. Also, you _asked_ me to,” Tony pointed out.

Bucky rolled his eyes, “This is a little much, don’t you think? Jesus. Should have just bit me for real, if you’re that possessive”.

Although Bucky could have sworn that he saw a hint of red in Tony’s eyes, the alpha just shrugged, “I figured you’d heal by now, overcompensated I guess,” he smirked.

Tony Stark? Overcompensating? Never! Bucky rolled his eyes.

It’s not like Bucky healed slow. It was clear the marks were trying, looking about a day or two old, instead of a few hours, but that meant they’d still be there when this heat was over. They’d still be there tomorrow.

As kinky as it had been to think about while Tony was putting them there, Bucky really didn’t want to hear what his team had to say about the marks.

“Overcompensating, my ass,” Bucky muttered, stripping out of his pants, “Possessive dog, more like”.

Bucky turned to start the shower, but heard Tony make a choked off sound.

Looking over his shoulder as he fiddled with the dials, he saw Tony look… upset.

“What?” he asked, concerned.

Tony’s eyes were trained on Bucky’s ass… no, his _hip_.

At the smattering of little purple dots against his pale skin.

“Oh,” Bucky said, feeling a shiver of arousal down his spine.

“Bucky, I’m sorry I—”

Sensing the alpha about to dive headfirst into self hatred, Bucky cut him off, “That’s what your sorry about?” he couldn’t help laugh, “ _That_ I can _cover,_ asshole,” he said affectionately.

Tony blinked, “I _hurt_ you,” he said like Bucky maybe missed it.

“I knew you were leaving bruises when you did it, dummy,” he laughed again, then stepped inside the glass shower stall that was bigger than his childhood bedroom. “Still a super-solider, even if you’re fucking me,” he reminded lightly, stepping under the spray.

A moment passed, Tony turning the thoughts over in his head. There must be a lot of them, for time to elapse without a comment from the alpha. Maybe he was just slow after all the sex. Bucky hoped that was it. 

Tony hadn't actually been hurting Bucky with his grip. Though at times it was on the right side of firm and demanding, the bruises were likely only there because Tony had scarcely actually _let go_. Just like the marks around Bucky's throat were from the alpha's mouth refusing to leave the space alone, not from Tony _hurting_ him.

Finally, Tony shook himself free of whatever was going on inside his head, “You sure about that?” he teased.

Bucky hummed, relaxing under the spray, “Positive," he confirmed his super-soldier status, "the way you were nailing me, I should be limping” he grinned to himself.

They laughed together while Bucky cleaned himself up, and well… out. His hair took the longest, a sweaty matted mess. When he was done, and his hair towel dried, he tied it up to save Tony the trouble later.

Tony gave him an appreciative once over, twice.

“Come on, lets watch that space movie,” Bucky said, pulling on clean sweat pants.

They didn’t talk about Bucky’s nightmare, or the details of yesterdays sex. Bucky had his feet in Tony’s lap, the alpha rubbing gentle circles into the soles while flicking through holographic projections of equipment specs. Bucky half watched the movie, half imagined the hell they were both promised the next time they saw Steve.

Then he just got horny again.

“Can I ride you?” he heard himself ask, shocked at himself.

Tony groaned, “Fuck yes,” he agreed, putting the holographic screen away, “gotta get me hard first,” he added.

Bucky was all over that, thank you very much.

He was getting good at choking on Tony’s cock. He’s pretty sure the alpha liked hearing him gag and cough. He’d like to make himself cry doing it at some point, just to hear the filthy things Tony would say to him.

When Tony pulled on the knot of hair at the base of his skull, Bucky pulled off obediently.

“I’m never going to look at you with your hair like this the same,” he groaned, tossing his head back when Bucky straddled him and sank down on the alphas cock.

Bucky grinned.

Oh, he hoped that would be the case. He’d need to invest in more hair-ties, for sure.

Tony was guiding the omegas hips down. Tony kept his eyes closed, no matter how fast or slow Bucky rode him, just sometimes jerked his hips up the get the point across, or gripped Bucky’s waist to slow him down. It felt amazing, and soft in a way he hadn’t expected with Tony, but that demanding little thrust, and controlling grip on his waist reminded Bucky that this was undeniable _Tony_ and very much not Steve.

The alpha wrapped his hand around Bucky’s cock, somehow finding it without even peaking and jerked him off as fast or as slow as Bucky was moving, and it felt amazing. Nearly enough to distract him from his body aching with his heat

“Will you look at me?” he asked when his thighs were burning from exertion.

Bucky suspected his eyes were closed for a reason, and a reason he wanted to explore.

Tony just grunted, thrusted up into Bucky’s body a little faster with a minute shake of his head.

Bucky whined, gripping the back of the couch with his metal hand while the flesh clawed gently at Tony’s shoulder.

Bucky didn’t understand why Tony kept trying to hide the red of his eyes. He was an alpha, one that Bucky’s heat sent into rut. Shouldn’t he be revelling in showing off what Bucky’s scent had done? It seemed like a thing Tony would do, and so did showing off the unique quality of those eyes. Didn’t Tony know how Bucky had been trained? Why wasn’t he smug about being able to get past the omega’s defenses?

Bucky slowed his movements on Tony’s cock, he was taller than Tony –made all the more obvious straddling him on the couch. It gave Bucky control over their movements that an alpha in rut wouldn’t like, and so that’s what Bucky did. He used his height and strength to halt Tony’s movements, and instead gave an experimental roll of his hips that made Bucky gasp and Tony growl.

“Show me, alpha,” he panted into Tony’s ear.

The alpha nipped sharply at Bucky’s chest, got his teeth over a nipple and rolled it between his teeth until Bucky was hissing and moaning with the raw, oversensitive sensation. Tony didn’t stop his assault on Bucky’s chest, moved his mouth to the other little nub and gave the same rough treatment, all the while pinching and pulling on the one he’d just released.

The noises escaping passed Bucky’s clenched teeth were in part pleasure and in part pain. He rolled his hips again, shuddering.

“You’re not being a very good omega, Bucky,” Tony rumbled with a sharp bite to his collarbone.

Bucky whined at the critique, but managed to cut off the sound enough to reply, “You’re not being a very good alpha,” with minimal quivering.

Tony growled, low and deep and Bucky could _feel_ it more than he could hear it.

“Must not be, if you’re still _talking,_ ” he ground out.

Bucky nodded, rolled his hips and moaned at the feeling, “gotta put me in my place, alpha,” he sighed, eyes fluttering shut because those few experimental rolls of his hips were a _great_ idea, “eyes like yours, makin’ me freeze up for you,” Bucky continued to gasp, “c’ome, alpha,” he purred.

Tony growled again, but cut himself off with a little laugh, “my eyes, that’s funny,” he said, then shifted enough to thrust up into Bucky with a sharp movement, then shot Bucky a harsh look with those not-quite-right eyes that bore into his soul.

Bucky felt pride swell in his chest, even as fear climbed up his throat.

Tony didn’t blink it away, and Bucky couldn’t look away—like staring at a train wreck. He tried to, actually—feeling his heart continue to pound, adrenaline rising—but _couldn’t_. He tried to tell Tony to stop, but it came out slurred and lacked vowels —terrified of nothing. He should hate this. He was always afraid with Hydra—but Tony just made him feel safe, wanted, pretty. Tony would keep him safe, would keep their baby safe.

“Want me to stop? I thought you _wanted_ to see my eyes” Tony whispered, his voice was faintly teasing, Bucky made some kind of noise, but had no idea what it was supposed to be.

Tony blinked, and the fear dissipated.

“Oh god,” Bucky slurred the second he had his voice back, “alpha,” he whined.

Bucky started to move on Tony’s cock again, letting the alpha take back control of the pace, the angle.

Tony growled lowly, “Jesus, what goes through your head that gets you smelling _like that_?” and he tipped his head back and started thrusting up into Bucky’s body, “looking at me like this can’t be good for you,” he almost whispered, voice far away and distracted as he focused on wringing pleasure from them both.

Tony’s hand was on his cock again, making Bucky’s toes curl, he stared down at Tony, caught his eye and held it as the omega moaned and panted, “That trick,” he gasped, “stop working,” and he cut off with little punched out noises, “ _before,”_ he said, “Never seen an alpha—oh, oh,-- with eyes like you—yours and, and, oh god, you’re _perfect, Tony_ ,” he moaned. At Tony’s startled groan, Bucky added, “and, and, you—you’d be real, uh, uh, you’d keep ah, pups safe, keep me safe,” he got out between gasps and panting breaths, cut off moans and shouts. Bucky was still shaking with fear as Tony forced pleasure into his body.

Tony growled again, and then the world tipped and twisted, and Bucky was on his stomach again. How the hell Tony kept managing to do that, Bucky didn’t know.

“Hips up, come on,” Tony growled, impatient, “Want my knot? Get that ass up” and Jesus Christ, Bucky should slap him.

Instead he shakily got to his knees, pressed his face back into the pillow and spread himself open, presenting again. At the alpha’s demand. He would be mortified about it _later_ though. Right now he grinned.

“Good omega,” the alpha groaned, sinking back into him, “want me to keep you safe, baby?” he whispered, then bit and dragged his teeth down the back of Bucky’s neck, “I already do,” he purred, “put you in my tower like a pretty princess, didn’t I?” his thrusting had no rhythm at all, it was just hard and jerky movement, the alpha chasing pleasure in his body.

“Yes, Tony” Bucky groaned, “So good to me alpha, you take such good care of me… gunna be so good for your pups” rambled, needing Tony to come—his body crying out for it.

Tony was chanting “Yes, yes, yes,” against Bucky’s neck, teeth and tongue burning him up.

“Please, make me come” Bucky begged again, desperate for Tony to do that _thing_ again. “Make me come and knot me,” Bucky cried.

The alpha did exactly as Bucky had asked, panting hotly into Bucky’s ear as he did, “Yeah, baby, come for me, let me feel that greedy hole milk my cock”.

It was perfect.

***

In retrospect, they should have moved to the bedroom if Tony was going to knot him.

Next time, Bucky supposed, shifting on the too narrow couch yet again. There really wasn’t enough room for them both with Bucky’s metal arm.

“We need a bigger couch,” Tony sighed, pulling Bucky closer to his chest.

“Or a smaller prosthetic,” Bucky agreed.

After Jarvis ‘made’ lunch, they went back to Bucky’s bedroom while the omega dozed like a lazy cat and Tony continued to work on his various projects.

Bucky woke at some point, feeling Tony’s rough calloused fingertips dragging along his spine. Bucky cracked an eye, looking up at him.

Tony was beautiful, he thought to himself.

The alpha was tracing mindless patterns against Bucky’s skin, keeping those restless hands busy, multitasking as his other hand flicked about in the holographic screen in front of him. The blue light of the arc reactor matched nearly exactly with the holograph, or, he supposed, the other way around.

Tony, although still alive with energy like he always was, looked more relaxed than Bucky had ever seen him before. The alpha’s scent was too. Calm and warm rolling across Bucky’s senses, lulling him closer to sleep as the moments passed.

Bucky was captivated watching him, though and unwilling to sleep again. He let himself bask in the warmth of Tony’s touch, in the cool blue light, in his rolling scent.

Tony frowned, then a moment later was grinning. At one point, he was bobbing his head to a song only he could hear.

Bucky’s heart fluttered in his chest, he felt himself grinning.

He watched the other man work for a few more minutes before Tony glanced over and noticed him.

“Hey Frosty,” Tony whispered with a soft smile.

“You should kiss me,” he said.

Bucky wasn’t expecting himself to say it, and he wasn’t expecting the gentle caress Tony’s hands applied to Bucky’s face when the alpha leaned down and complied.

Tony’s lips were soft and slow against Bucky’s, gentle and sweet even as he tangled their legs together, both laying on their sides to face the other. Bucky let his own hands wander the planes of Tony’s back, the bumps of his spine, the heated skin and hard muscle.

It was impossibly gentle and sweet, but Bucky’s heart was pounding just as hard as it had been when they were on the couch and his thighs were trembling with the strain of bouncing on Tony's cock.

Bucky’s heat was over, he could tell.

That didn’t stop Tony from rolling on top of him, still kissing him with a slow, sweet sugary drag of lips on his, tongue moving against his own. Not pushing, not claiming, but mapping, remembering.

At least that’s what Bucky was doing.

He was oversensitive and sore when Tony sunk into him, and he gasped.

“Okay?” Tony asked against his mouth.

“Perfect,” Bucky breathed.

It was.

It was gentle. It was missionary. It wasn’t Steve.

Tony held him in his arms as they kissed, panting into the others mouth with every slow roll of the alpha’s hips.

Tony still talked.

“You’re beautiful, perfect, the prettiest” he whispered the words down Bucky’s throat, into his lungs with hitching breaths.

Bucky dragged his blunt nails gently down Tony’s back, the alpha moaned and arched into him. Tony’s eyes stayed brown and Bucky never whined.

Tony’s hand roved over Bucky’s prosthetic that lay unmoving above his head. He hadn’t trusted it with Tony’s body, not like this, but the alpha lavished the same sensual attention to the metal as he did the rest of Bucky.

They came together, Tony’s fingers intertwined with Bucky’s metal digits.

Tony didn’t knot him, but he stayed there for a long time.

It was barely four o’clock and they could both tell Bucky's heat was over.

Tony stayed with him until the next morning.


	7. Chapter Seven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve and Bucky finally talk, and the truth about their mating bond get's put into words. Bucky is sure he isn't in love, but he doesn't need to be in order to get his heart broken.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A lot of dialog in this one, so sorry about that.
> 
> Steve's redeeming himself! It doesn't really last, but progress isn't linear and he'll get there!
> 
> Halfway done! I'm just finishing up the last two chapters, so it won't be too much longer! I'm hoping to start posting the remaining chapters two a day after today! 
> 
> Thanks for reading!!!

Things in the penthouse didn’t change much after his heat, despite the way Bucky’s feelings _had_.

There were small differences in the following weeks. The apartment looked a little more lived in, Bucky and Tony were more than roommates now, and instead were co-habitating. The living room had personal items belonging to both of them. Tony’s tools, pieces of projects making their way up from the workshop. A few of Bucky’s comic books had found homes around the place. They’d started doing arm maintenance at the kitchen table since they never ate there unless there was company.

They did that once or twice now. Invited the team over for dinner, Bucky cooked.

“Dinner at Tony and Bucky’s place,” he heard Steve telling Sam one day, and it brought the stupidest grin to his face.

_Tony and Bucky’s place._

But Bucky tried not to get too wrapped up playing house with Tony. He knew that this was supposed to be temporary, that neither of them expected Bucky and Steve to actually break up when Tony offered him the spare room. He was pretty good at keeping himself in check.

He was getting better at controlling his pheromones now, too and it only ever seemed to spike when he was asleep, dreaming of Tony and the thousand combinations of the mans features on their imaginary children.

There were still some things that pushed at the boundary of friends-roommates-teammates, besides the influx of flirty banter over the comms.

Bucky didn’t _always_ sleep in his own room.

It started about three nights after his heat when he woke from that dream again, and with no one there to comfort him, he shuffled out into the living room to watch the sun come up. It had been his routine for a long time now. Tony had witnessed it, but he hadn’t ever imposed on Bucky’s wallowing before.

The engineer had come up from the lab about a half an hour after Bucky woke, glaring at the city scape cross legged on the floor.

Bucky hadn’t been aware that he was holding his hands to his forever flat belly until Tony had moved to sit silently behind him.

The alpha’s hands tangled with his own over the space.

Bucky’s lip quivered, and then he cried.

“Shh,” Tony whispered, “It’ll take,” he said to his hair, and rocked them gently.

After that, Bucky asked Jarvis where Tony was whenever he had the dream, and he’d crawl into bed with the alpha and feel him wrap his hands around his belly and whisper the assurance.

Bucky would pretend it wasn’t a lie and fall asleep every time.

The second time Bucky woke up in Tony’s room, he saw that the baby blanket they had purchased weeks ago was folded neatly on the nightstand, the lamp and photo of Pepper and Rhode arranged to accommodate it as if that was it’s home.

Bucky had been keeping the socks on _his_ nightstand as well.

A few weeks, and Bucky was crawling into bed with Tony after any and every nightmare.

He set the socks on the blanket in Tony’s room.

Tony kissed him. Bucky kissed back.

Maybe it was the other way around.

He couldn’t say for sure.

Bucky had been crying, Tony stroking the tears away and it seemed like the only thing they could do.

They didn’t make a habit of it, though. That was the only time they crossed the line.

Not counting the last day of his heat, of course.

It wasn't a _thing_. Bucky and Tony were not a _thing_. 

They were just sharing the same misery.

If Bucky had to remind himself about that several times a day, well, that wasn't Tony's problem.

Because they were not a thing.

Bucky and Steve had _just_ lost their mating marks. Bucky couldn't be over that already.

Could he?

It didn't matter if he was, really. Tony wasn't interested in a relationship, that much was obvious. Tony was never in shortage of self-deprecating jokes about past relationship history, and made it clear he was well and truly _done_ when it came to emotional commitment. 

Tony did mentioned wanting a mate _and_ a baby, though...

But he didn't say he wanted Bucky, and it was clear an alpha like Tony would want a _real_ omega, a _good_ omega.

So, Bucky and Tony were not a thing.

Bucky did his best to remember that.

***

Bucky managed to avoid Steve until the bruises on his neck were nothing but a shadow of what they had been. It was still clear that there had been bruises there, but at least they weren’t blaringly obvious anymore.

He hadn’t been so lucky with the other Avengers, and Nat smirked at him and Tony both—making even the alpha’s cheeks turn pink. The placement really didn’t leave much to the imagination, especially when they were training and Bucky had to put his hair up.

Tony’s face went very red when Bucky twisted it into a loose knot off his neck, he assumed both at the memory of Bucky on his knees and the wolf whistle Clint shot Bucky, clapping the alpha on the back.

Nat gave a pointed look at the _back_ of Bucky’s neck which bore the worst of the red and purple colouring. He tried not to let his embarrassment show, but his teammates taking one look at Bucky and knowing Tony had him bent over on his hands and knees for the majority of the last two days was pretty fucking mortifying.

When he did see Steve for the first time, it was during a mission. Steve was professional and they didn’t let anything they were feeling show throughout the battle. That being said, they didn’t really see much of one another in the field. It wasn’t until debriefing with Coulson and Fury that they were really _seeing_ each other, and silently seemed to agree to pretend the other wasn’t there. Neither wanted to have that conversation with an audience.

By then, Bucky was out of all his leather and straps and wearing a t-shirt, but he kept his hair down. The faded bruises would only be visible if you were looking for them, which he hoped Steve wasn’t.

“That’s… a new development,” Coulson said with a polite smile.

It wasn’t directed at Bucky, but to Steve. Steve didn’t have the luxury of long hair and so the space just above his collar bone where Bucky's mark on Steve had always barely poked out from his ridiculously tight t-shirts, was visibly bare of said mark.

Which meant Coulson’s eyes landed on Bucky’s throat next, looking.

“Oh!” he said, and then averted his eyes.

Which drew _Steve’s_ attention to the space for the first time.

Bucky looked away but kept the alpha in his periphery. Steve’s face went red. He dropped his hands to his sides, presumably in fists. He didn’t say a word, though.

Fury had looked between the two of them, grunted, and made some comment about professionalism.

Then Tony walked in.

It wasn’t like Fury and Coulson could prove that it was Tony who had his mouth all over Bucky’s throat, he scented no differently then he usually did of the alpha, considering they lived together.

Steve getting up and leaving as Tony walked by and sat two chairs down from Bucky (three chairs closer than Steve himself) gave them a pretty good idea though.

“You can’t be serious, Stark” Fury said, with obvious disdain.

Tony looked back innocently, “What’d I do?”.

Fury didn’t cut corners, “You want your petty little pissing match with Rogers, fine,” he said, gruff, “but if you fuck up my team just to get your dick wet—”.

“Hey!” Bucky cut in, defending both himself and Tony, because Tony never told Fury where to shove it like he should, “Don’t talk about me like I ain’t sitting right here,” he growled back at Fury. He wasn’t ‘just an omega’ after all. “Me and Steve’s got nothing to do with Tony, and no one’s sex life’s got a place in a fucking mission debrief, so _can it_ ”.

Tony had blinked at him, then grinned, “Aw, Frosty—you _do_ care,” he cooed.

Bucky had rolled his eyes and was glad when that was the end of the conversation. Coulson still wouldn’t look at him. Bucky felt some pride at that.

Bucky found Steve after the debrief.

He knew he couldn't put off the conversation, not with their nosey co-workers, not with the inevitable media coverage, not with Tony and Steve living so close to one another.

The blonde was on the roof, leaning against the railing with his face turned up to the setting sun, soaking up the evening rays before winter made it impossible to come up here.

He looked beautiful with sunlight in his hair, his pale Irish skin looked warmer in the orange hue of sunset.

“Hey,” Bucky said, coming to stand next to the other man. He looked out at the city ahead of him, felt tall and small at the same time.

“Hey, Buck”.

Bucky didn’t know what to say.

“Sorry I walked out on the debriefing earlier,” Steve said, hanging his head, “I was being stupid,” he said.

“You always are,” Bucky replied, casual.

Steve snorted, “Yeah, alright. I deserve that”.

Bucky nodded.

Steve was looking out over Brooklyn like he might find a part of the skyline he remembered.

“I know it’s not Tony’s fault,” Steve said, “It’s not your fault, either,” he sighed.

“It’s not all on you, Steve,” Bucky said.

Steve shook his head, “It is. A little, at least,” he was wringing his hands, nervous, “I’m _jealous_.” He admitted, voice laced with self-hatred, “I’ve always been jealous… for all the wrong reasons, I think,” he closed his eyes on a deep breath, “I’m not... I’ve never been possessive, not like, well—” and he nodded at Bucky’s throat, “I’m just _jealous_ and it’s not because I’m afraid of loosing you, because… well I already did. I _just did_ ,” he breathed out.

Bucky kept his mouth shut, could tell there was more Steve was trying to say. He just had to wait him out.

“I just didn’t want someone _else_ to have you,” he whispered, so quiet Bucky could barely hear him over the wind.

Steve had never admitted that, Bucky knew. Maybe not even to himself.

“I know,” Bucky said simply. He wasn't in the mood to draw this out, to sugar coat anything. It was time Steve and Bucky finished this part of their lives and moved on. 

“You do?” Steve looked up, expression caught between heartbroken and hopeful.

Bucky looked away, “You never wanted to mate because you thought I could do better" he said, voice distant as he reminisced, "but then I went into heat in a camp full of alphas and suddenly you wanted to bite me,” he said to the Brooklyn skyline, “not hard to figure out your motivation, Steve,” he didn’t roll his eyes, but the mood was there, “Then I came here and there was Tony,” he finished.

“Oh,” Steve said.

“I knew when I let you,” Bucky said, “I knew you weren’t mating with me ‘cause you wanted me yourself. You did it so I wouldn’t have to fight off a bunch of lonely soldiers,” he looked down at his mismatched hands, “I didn’t care though. You’re my best friend, I love you, and you were protecting me, in your own way”.

It had been enough at the time. It had been enough because he was sure he'd die before he made it home, but it had still been enough.

He saw Steve’s fist clench, “I was so scared when you left—I kept telling myself you’d be fine ‘cause you’re tall for an omega, like that would keep you safe…” he gritted out.

No wonder the bond didn’t last once Bucky was safe again.

Bucky couldn’t help but smile, “Thank you, Stevie,” he said.

An exchange of goods.

Maybe not even.

Steve just sticking up for the little guy.

Steve bumped his shoulder.

They were okay.

***

Steve didn’t just _stop_ being jealous and protective of course, but he was getting there in time. It probably helped that Tony and Bucky weren’t actually sleeping together outside of Bucky’s heat. They flirted a lot, and sometimes Steve would even tease Bucky about it, if the mood was right and the stars aligned, but that was all.

There were some things that Steve still couldn’t wrap his head around, though. Namely, Bucky embracing his more omega characteristics. 

Bucky told himself he was only doing it because he had the freedom to do so for the first time in his life, that it had nothing to do with trying to seem more to Tony's tastes, but he knew he was lying to himself point blank. It was fine, so long as Steve hadn't figured it out.

Bucky thought Steve's displeasure at all things 'Bucky' and 'omega' might just make him nervous. Steve had convinced himself that Bucky was not ‘omega’ enough to be hurt by fellow soldiers to cope with being left at home while Bucky was in danger, and now Bucky was playing up his omega-nes in a game of flirty chicken with Tony.

Steve turned his nose up at the behaviour, but never opened his mouth about it, so it was fine.

Or mostly, never.

To be fair, Steve had a bit of a point the one time he did speak up about it. If he hadn’t, Bucky might’ve asked Tony to fuck him in the middle of the training gym.

Bucky and Tony were not dating. Not even fuck buddies.

They shared a single heat, and kissed in terrible, depressed, desperation one night. That was all. Bucky liked to push boundaries though. Or, at least, he liked to push Tony’s.

“C’ome, wise guy,” Bucky smirked, “see how smug you look out of the suit,” he was saying, slowly walking backwards away from the alpha.

The day before, Tony had won their sparring match. Today, Buck had stolen one of his Iron Man homing bracelets, intent on getting Tony into the sparring ring without the suit.

“Oh, I don’t think you’d like that very much,” Tony smirked.

Bucky shrugged, “Too bad,” he said, then turned and ran out of the penthouse.

There was something primitive and exhilarating about letting the alpha chase him down to the gym, made all the hotter because Tony beat him there using Jarvis to lock Bucky out of certain roots, herding him the longest possible way down.

Bucky hadn’t actually realized that, though. Too giddy with the game of cat and mouse that he didn’t notice that the right doors didn’t open and that the wrong ones did.

When he made it through the gym doors, he ran straight into Tony. Or rather, his foot, which he used to trip him with Bucky’s own momentum.

Bucky fell onto a strategically placed gym mat, having turned mid-fall trying to catch himself—he landed on his back staring up and the smirking alpha.

God, Tony was so fucking quick, his light-speed brain perfectly equipped for giving chase to cheeky omegas.

It wasn’t even a chase, though.

It was a _hunt_.

Bucky couldn’t help but whine, gently and breathless.

It gave Tony a pause, and Bucky scrambled backwards—having suddenly forgot _all_ his training, moving uncoordinated and slow. He did manage to get back to his feet, shooting Tony a smug smile.

Tony gave a little growl in response, and Bucky, having been slowly backing away, tripped a little over his own feet. He caught himself and took off running again.

Steve had shouted something at Tony, who replied with something Steve did not find funny, he didn’t listen, though. Steve wasn’t the alpha chasing him.

Bucky made it to the sparring ring, which was the objective. He considered himself the winner, even if it was thanks to Steve distracting his pursuer. Bucky was grinning triumphant as Tony joined him, now he’d get to wrestle with the alpha without the metal suit of armour.

Bucky had the bracelet on his own wrist and lifted it up with a mocking little shake.

Tony’s smile was all sharp teeth and foreboding for Bucky.

“I win—” Bucky tried to say.

The alpha flashed rusted and blood red eyes, holding the contact.

Bucky, of course, froze completely.

Tony advanced on him, three long strides just like when he’d pushed him against the fridge a few weeks ago.

Bucky tried to move, heart pounding, adrenaline spiking—he whimpered, unable to do anything.

His hindbrain screaming at him not to move, don’t make the alpha mad, let him take, give him what he wants.

Then Bucky was staring at the ceiling, Tony straddling his chest, having swept the omega's legs out.

He didn’t even register the feeling of the alpha taking the bracelet from him, his eyes still holding him in place.

Bucky whined louder, managed to tilt his head a little to show his throat.

_Give the alpha what he wants, don’t move, let him take. If you’re good the alpha will want you, will take you._

“Stark!” Steve’s voice cut in, Tony’s eyes flickered to the sound and breaking contact with Bucky.

Fear still clinging to his breathing, Bucky managed to swallow thickly, cutting off the terrified sound he had been making.

Tony turned back to him, warm brown eyes. “I win” he said with a wink.

Bucky nodded, “yeah, yes, yeah” he croaked, barely keeping himself from adding ' _alpha_ ' to the end.

Tony stood back up, and Bucky just continued to lay there another minute. Slowly becoming aware of how very much not alone they were. Thankfully the stench of fear was stronger than his arousal.

“Tony, what the hell do you think you’re doing?!” Steve yelled, making Bucky flinch.

“Just taking what’s mine, cap” Tony replied, calm, casual—ignoring the stench of terrified and horny omega at his feet.

Steve growled, low and deep.

Tony laughed at the display, “Homing bracelet,” he said showing Steve his prize, “relax, Rogers. Just a game,” he could hear the eye roll.

“Why does he smell like that? What did you do?” Steve demanded.

Bucky managed to get his limbs working, clearing some of the fog from his head—shutting up his hindbrain. “ _He’s_ still in the room, Steve,” Bucky but in, “and I’m demanding a rematch because that was blatant cheating!” He added to Tony.

“All’s fair in love and war, Frosty”.

“Oh, is that what this is?” Bucky asked, smirking as he got to his feet.

Tony grinned back.

Bucky didn’t say it was love.

Tony didn’t say it was war.

Steve came up the penthouse that evening while Tony was in the lab.

“Just… explain it to me…” Steve was saying.

Bucky tried, for the hundredth time, to explain why Bucky thought their little game of chase was fun and not degrading.

Bucky had tried everything from ‘it’s what god intended’ to ‘it’s just a game, I could snap him in half’ and everything in between, but Steve didn’t like any of his answers.

“It just makes me feel _wanted_ , okay? I’m an omega and I spent seventy years bonded to someone who never wanted to keep me!” he finally said, frustrated, lying on the couch and dragging his hand roughly through his hair.

That seemed to shut him up for a second, and Bucky breathed a sigh of relief.

“You smelt scared though,” Steve said.

Groaning into his hands he replied, “I wasn’t. It’s biology, Steve. I’m not afraid of Tony. _I trust_ him”.

Another blessedly silent moment.

“I trust him,” Steve said, “just… not with you,” he whispered.

“You’re being stupid,” Bucky said.

“You’re going to get your heart broken,” Steve replied.

“It’s not like that”.

It was exactly like that.

Bucky was going to get his heart broken.

He wanted to take things further with Tony. He wanted to stay in the penthouse. He wanted to make them both happy and give Tony the baby that they both so desperately wanted.

Tony didn’t want _him_ though.

Bucky had to deal with that. Tony was a flirty guy, he liked to push boundaries just as much as Bucky did, that’s why they worked so well together. They were friends.

That had to be enough.

He was so tired of settling for 'enough'.


	8. Chapter Eight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony knows he's crossed the line when it comes to Bucky, but he hasn't the slightest clue where that line is anymore and if Bucky had ever even drawn it. All he knows is that Bucky's trusting him, and he's failing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is pretty short, but I'm uploading the next chapter within the hour, so hopefully that makes up for it.
> 
> There could have been more porn in this chapter but there's not. Sorry :(
> 
> There's a little bit of Tony's POV in this one.

The birth control that Bruce had given him was working still, even though Bucky had forgotten to take it a lot of the time after that first heat with Tony. Still, his next heat is even later than the last and it was late in November when he felt the effects. The lateness meant that Bucky had no idea when it would happen, so of course—it happened at an inopportune moment.

Tony had pointed out the lateness a few weeks ago, and Bucky reminded him that that was normal. Tony had then asked what his plan was for his next one.

“Are you going to be okay handling it alone? Or a, uh… service?” Tony had asked, awkward.

Bucky tried not to be hurt, he wasn’t sure he managed to keep the sour smell of his plummeting mood from his scent though, and couldn’t help the argumentative response either, “Those my only two options?” he snapped, just a little.

He wasn’t presumptuous enough to assume Tony would make the offer again, but it still hurt when he didn’t.

Tony looked even more awkward.

“No, obviously you don’t need to… do that. You’re hot as fuck, c’ome on, you know that. I just wanted… I can make sure I’m not around, if I know there’s gunna be uh…” he trailed off, not really looking at Bucky, or anything really.

Bucky did not like what Tony was implying. It made him immediately defensive and just like that, they were arguing.

“What? A stranger in the house? You think I’m going to go out and find some random alpha and bring him back to our apartment?” he asked, angry. Then corrected, “ _Your_ apartment?”.

Tony didn’t appreciate the tone, let his own voice raise a little. They weren’t yelling, but they were both clearly unhappy and arguing, though neither knew why or what about. “I don’t know what you want, Bucky,” he snapped, “You could have any alpha you want, and I’m not going to stop you from... from that, just because I won’t like the way it smells,” he said.

Bucky scoffed, “Any alpha I want. That’s hilarious,” he said, mean. “Whatever, Tony. No, I’ll handle it alone,” he said, peeved, “I don’t want some random alpha stinking up the place, either. I _like_ the way it smells here,” he said, getting up to leave.

“Wait, Bucky,” Tony called, “I’m not saying—well, I don’t know what you think I’m saying, but know it’s not what I’m _trying_ to say,” he muttered.

“What are you saying, Tony?” Bucky asked, impatient. He felt rejected and embarrassed, he just wanted to go back to his room.

Tony paused, Bucky nearly walked away.

“I’m not stupid enough to think you’re going to want me around this time,” he said, softly, “I know I messed up last time—I…” and he cut himself off with a sigh, “look, I just want to make sure you have whatever you need, alright? Just tell me what and it’s yours. You want toys? Want me to clear out for a while? A hotel away from the tower? Anything, Bucky. I just… I’m sorry about… anyway, just let Jarvis know,” he said, “night, Frosty,” he said, turning towards his own room.

Bucky didn’t know what to say, and by the time he’d figured it out, Tony was already in his room.

He didn’t let that stop him, though. Tony’s door always opened for Bucky and this was no exception.

Tony was laying in bed, still in jeans on top of the covers and with a holographic screen up in front of him. The image was confidential, once Bucky entered the room Jarvis scattered the display, prompting Tony to look up and notice Bucky.

“You,” was all the omega said.

“Wha--?”

“You said anything I want,” Bucky said, voice tight, “You said a _nyone_ I want,” and he kept his eyes on Tony’s, even though he wanted to look down with embarrassment.

“I want you, so when my heat comes, you should know… That’s what I want,” and then Bucky turned and left the room.

They didn’t talk about it.

Tony never agreed to anything, and Bucky never asked Jarvis for the number of a service, nor access to online stores.

It weighed in the back of his mind, not knowing if Tony would be willing to go through that with Bucky again, but his heat took another two weeks and by then the tension between them was gone.

When it did start, the team was in the communal living space, watching a movie together after a short mission against the villain of the week. Bucky was getting restless but assumed it was left over adrenaline from the short and uneventful battle that afternoon. He was distracted by the explosions on the TV and the temperature of the room, but didn’t notice his own scent or the wetness between his legs.

“Bucky,” Tony said suddenly, voice sharp.

Bucky looked over at the alpha on the other side of the room, saw tension in every line of the man’s body.

“You’re in _heat,_ ” the alpha said from behind clenched teeth.

“Wha— _oh_ ,” Bucky said, eloquently. Then felt his face heat because the team was staring at him with different levels of confusion.

“It’s late,” Steve pointed out.

Bucky rolled his eyes, of course the other alpha was keeping track. “It’s the birth control, I just haven’t figured out my new cycle yet,” he said, getting up to leave. “Night,” he said simply, and took his glass to the kitchen.

He heard Nat’s voice whisper not so subtly to Tony, “You going too or what?” with a smirk in her voice.

Silence followed, and Bucky tried not to be as disappointed as he was as he moved to catch the elevator up to the penthouse.

Then he heard a strangled, “Yep,” followed by Tony’s quick, light footsteps and Bucky walked a little faster, excitement bubbling in his chest.

They were barely in the elevator and out of view of the team before Tony was on him. Kissing him hard against the elevator and had Bucky’s knees feeling weak with relief.

Bucky had first thought that with how many times he’d forgotten his birth control since his last heat, if they did this again Tony would need to use condoms, but his heat was so late that it clearly didn’t matter anyways. The pills still did their job, and Bucky did his by spreading his thighs and letting Tony pin him up against the elevator wall.

His heat was also s _hort_. Which it had never been before. He never got to that point of pitiful desperation that he started crying for it, though he did present himself for Tony just to hear the filthy things come from the alpha’s mouth, and likewise—choked himself until his eyes watered and tears spilled down his face with the alpha’s cock in his throat.

“Tony,” Bucky said, confused the next morning, “Do I still smell like…” and he didn’t have to finish the sentence, Tony buried his face in his throat and breathed.

“No, you smell normal, now,” he said and looked at him equally as confused.

Neither really had an explanation, the internet didn’t list it as a side effect of any generic birth control types, and Bucky didn’t know enough about what Bruce had given him to offer much help to the search.

“’m still horny though,” Bucky admitted, though not in a heat-crazed way.

“Yeah?” Tony said with barely contained hope.

“The team isn’t expecting us back for another eight hours or more…” Bucky whispered.

Tony laid on his back and let Bucky ride him again, rolling his hips the way he’d done the last time he was in heat, but this time Tony let him continue until Bucky came –covering them both in sticky white. Bucky couldn’t get off a second time without being in heat, and his hole became oversensitive in a bad way not long after, so he let Tony come down his throat, and pretended the taste of himself and Tony’s come from that night didn’t make his spent cock twitch.

They both lazed around in Bucky’s bed for a few hours –Tony getting more sleep this time without the constant assault of fertile pheromones on his senses.

Bucky woke at one point to curious fingers prodding gently at the seam of his metal arm—it didn’t hurt, but he knew that it could, “Careful,” he mumbled, too tired to care about what the other man was doing, “hurts some places,” and then he closed his eyes again.

The next time he woke, Tony was working on a holographic screen again. He thought he saw the gauntlet of one of his suits—but then the image distorted when Jarvis saw Bucky peaking through his lashes.

“Wha’s that?” he yawned, flopping over on his back, “you know ‘m not smart ‘nough to know what it is even if you showed me,” he mentioned, scrubbing sleep out of his eyes.

Tony smiled at him, “It’s a surprise, I’ll show you when it’s finished,” he said and kissed him.

Bucky didn’t register the kiss as something that shouldn’t have happened, he kissed back and melted into it with a happy little sigh.

It wasn’t until the next day, sitting on the couch, Tony announcing his departure and Bucky tilting his head up for a kiss that should not have come—but _did_ , that they both realized their mistake.

They were awkward, and things felt horribly wrong for a week before they found their normal again and by that time, the anniversary of Tony’s parents passing was upon them.

That morning, after Tony had comforted _Bucky_ from a nightmare he couldn’t even remember, Bucky decided he’d better spend the night at Bruce’s to give Tony some space.

***Tony****

“You ready, Tony?” Rhodey asked softly.

Tony nodded with a confidence he didn’t feel.

This was their routine now, since Tony had learned the truth about his parents. Before that, he never visited the cemetery, his parent’s graves. Sometimes, after Afghanistan, Tony went to their grave on his mother’s birthday and left her some flowers, glared at his father’s name beside hers, and refused to open his mouth and curse the man with her lying next to him.

It wasn’t until Steve had brought Bucky around, and the two had sat down and told him the truth that Tony was able to come here. Bucky had been shaking but not crying and not letting any emotion bleed into his scent, though he was struggling with the effort to do it. With the effort to ensure he didn’t take away from Tony’s need to be angry, to be hurt, to grieve. Tony had still caught a whiff of that misery as the two left and the elevator closed on Bucky’s stoic and emotionless mask, and somehow, that had helped.

He’d still been angry at Bucky, at Hydra.

But it had helped Tony in a way too.

He’d blamed his father for killing his mom for so many years. Tony hadn’t even gone to the funeral, because they had been held together and Tony refused to mourn for his mother’s drunken murderer.

After Bucky’s admission, Tony went to the cemetery, and he silently dropped a bouquet of flowers between the two graves –Rhodey had picked them out.

After that, Rhodey always picked the flowers out.

The interesting thing was that that first time, Tony had found there was already flowers on both graves.

He’d had Jarvis pull up the surveillance footage, curious to know who the hell had access to this part of the cemetery and _cared_.

It was Bucky.

He didn’t have access, but he’d scaled the fence, and no one had noticed.

Tony had watched the man, straggly hair, unkept beard, jerky and pained motions as he placed the flowers, then paced back and forth at the foot of his fathers grave, pulling at his own hair, motioning wildly at Maria Stark’s grave, throwing his hands up in frustration and then finally falling to his knees and bawling. There was fifteen minutes of footage where Bucky did nothing but cry.

The man looked about the same way Tony felt, so naturally, Tony forgave him.

Tony never admitted to having seen Bucky at the cemetery, it was pretty obvious he hadn’t known about the camera—why would he? He’d disabled all the ones outside his parents private resting place, and what kind of paranoid asshole has a security camera trained on the graves of people he doesn’t even visit anyway? He thought about telling him after they became friends, when Tony was working on his arm, but he decided it didn’t matter _why_ Tony forgave him, as long as Bucky knew that he _had_.

Things with Bucky now… they were _good_.

Still a little rocky, after Tony’s monumental fuck up the other day on the couch, but otherwise… they were okay.

If you counted being head over heels for your roommate to be ‘okay’.

He was sure Bucky knew, of course. The omega just didn’t seem to mind. Tony assumed he just liked the attention and trusted that Tony wouldn’t take things too far, but then Tony _had_ taken it too far, had gone and kissed him, _twice_ now when he shouldn’t have.

He wasn’t sure why Bucky put up with him.

Tony’s self control slipped a little more every time Bucky crawled into his bed and sought comfort.

That morning, Tony had almost been glad to wake up and feel the omega with him. For a brief moment Tony wanted _Bucky_ of all the people he knew to be with him for this.

It was just his stupid instincts, of course. Just responding to Bucky’s distress with the need to keep him close, since that’s what had woken him.

Bucky jolting awake and running to the bathroom, gagging, emptying his stomach on his knees into the toilet.

It happened sometimes, Bucky had said. Though it hadn’t happened in the all the time since Bucky had started crawling into bed with Tony.

A particularly horrible nightmare would turn his stomach, and he’d wake with the disgust still clawing at the back of his throat.

He was a super-soldier. He couldn’t get sick.

Tony kept telling himself it was only his concern for Bucky’s well being that made him want to have Bucky here with him today, and not… the other thing.

He told himself that up until Tony and Rhodey walked into the flower shop.

Then, then Tony couldn’t lie to himself anymore.

The scent of pollen assaulted his nose, and Tony’s dumb ass immediately looked around to find _Bucky_.

Of course, the omega wasn’t actually there.

It was only the smell of flowers, of pollen, and fresh cool dewy mist that had Tony on high alerting trying to locate his omega.

It didn’t stop his heart from _sinking_ when he realized that though. When he realized Bucky wasn’t there.

“Tony? What’s wrong?” Rhodey asked.

Tony didn’t know what to say, so he turned around and walked back outside. Where he could breathe.

When Rhodey joined him on the sidewalk, he got out a simple word.

“Bucky”

Rhodey looked confused, but only for a moment.

“Oh, right,” he said, probably not fully understanding, “he smells kinda like flowers, doesn’t he?”.

“Pollen, and I’m in love with him,” Tony said, to correct his friend.

Rhodey blinked. Rhodey didn’t know Bucky as well as Pepper did, he wasn’t around as much.

“You’re in—of course you are,” Rhodey groaned, long-suffering. His friend looked at him, unimpressed, “Because he smells like flowers?” he asked, like he didn’t expect that was the answer, but maybe didn’t want to know the real one.

Tony shrugged, “Nope, more because he felt horrible about what he did but didn’t want me to know it,” he started listing, “and because he’s pretty when he laughs and he always laughs at me,” Tony scrubbed a hand over his face, “because he told captain America that he doesn’t fuck good enough and asked me to do it instead, now he lives in my spare room” he admitted, not sure if Rhodey knew about that, “and because I kissed him a few times when I shouldn’t have, and because I woke up to him vomiting in my bathroom this morning because his nightmares are _that fucking awful_ and he still comes to me like something I’m doing is helpful when all I’ve been doing for months now is falling in love with him—Jesus, Rhodey, have you ever heard him laugh?” Tony heard himself say, and then, “he wants kids, and _I_ want kids, and he smells like pollen and when I’m on his skin he smells like _spring_ , and I’m _in love_ with him, Rhodey,” he whispered.

It took a long time for his friend to heave a sigh and muster some kind of response.

“You do like spring,” was all Rhodey could say.

Tony really did like spring.

Not as much as he loved Bucky, though.


	9. Chapter Nine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bucky isn't sure why he can't seem to leave Tony's side, but he's been an emotional wreck these last few days, so he's not about to deny himself the comfort.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Man oh man, these boys are dumb. Love them though.
> 
> I'm really struggling with the last chapter! Leave some comments and tell me what you'd like to see happen?

Bucky was in the common room, reading one of his newer comics, the ones he didn’t mind taking out of the penthouse because he could replace them if they got damaged (by Clint), when Jarvis spoke.

“Agent Barnes?” The A.I asked. Bucky had waited a moment, expecting a summons that didn’t come.

“Yeah, Jay?” he replied, confused. Usually Jarvis was pretty direct. He almost sounded hesitant.

Bucky knew that Jarvis had his own personality, he was nearly human as far as Bucky was concerned. All the bots had amazing and unique personalities. They all had learned the capacity to care through Tony, too. Another point in the alpha’s favour, one that Bucky liked to use whenever Tony talked about being a bad father.

“It is my understanding that you do not plan to return to the penthouse this evening,” the computer said, cryptic.

Bucky’s confusion grew, “Yeah, I figured Tony might need the space tonight,” he answered the not-question.

“I see,” came the reply. Nothing followed.

“Jarvis? Is everything okay?” Bucky asked, now _concerned_ and confused.

“Yes, of course, agent. I only wish to inform you that Sir has initiated a workshop blackout, and if you wished to return to the penthouse tonight, you would not be imposing, as Sir is not there,” Jarvis said, faux-casual. The AI was perfectly capable of deceiving Bucky, as he had no biology to stop him from lying, but the computers voice relayed a hidden meaning in the words.

Bucky sat up and put his comic down.

“Jarvis… why are… are you even _allowed_ to tell me that?” Bucky asked, looking to the nearest camera as if that would offer him some understanding on the situation.

“I am able to offer you information relevant to maintaining your comfort— I assume that returning home this evening would see to that, agent Barnes,” the AI said, as if offended by Bucky’s questioning.

“Right, sorry. What is a black out anyway?” Bucky asked, looking for some answers between the lines Jarvis was twisting.

“I am not at liberty to say. However, as it pertains to your own comfort, this protocol will see that the penthouse remains empty for seventy-two hours, unless the call to assemble comes, or if Sir is required to assist in a serious technological malfunction within the tower that cannot be fixed remotely,” and Bucky was starting to get the hint.

Jarvis was trying to tell Bucky that Tony was locking himself in the workshop, without outright telling him Tony was being self-destructive. He was also handing over the proverbial keys to the workshop in the process.

“What constitutes a tech malfunction? In case something was to happen to draw Tony out of the workshop. I wouldn’t want to be around to impose, or anything,” Bucky said, keeping up the ruse.

“Avengers equipment malfunctions, agent Barnes, take precedence over all else,” Jarvis told him, meaningfully.

Bucky blinked, he didn’t have any fancy equipment. Not like Nat’s widow bites or Clint’s bow. He ran a hand through his hair, thinking. A few stands got caught in the metal plates.

Bucky grinned.

“Hey Jarvis?” Bucky said, trying to hide his smile, “can you see if Tony could come fix my arm? I think I got something jammed in there,” he said.

“Right away, agent Barnes,” The AI replied, and Bucky could hear the grin even if the computer couldn’t smile.

Bucky went to the penthouse and waited.

He didn’t have to wait long.

Tony came up looking more put together than he expected. Though he was defiantly _drunk_.

“Hey, Frost—Bucky—I uh,” he stumbled, “I can’t fix your arm, but I can get a scan and send it on down to Brucie bear, and he’ll get'cha looked after,” the engineer said, taking a seat at the table like they usually did.

Bucky nodded, “That would be great,” he lied, “I really appreciate you coming to take a look, I know you’re… busy,” he said.

Tony laughed, “Honey I’m never to busy for yo—oh it’s no problem, Bucky,” he switched gears so fast Bucky had barely been able to deduce what he was saying, and when he did, it didn’t make much sense.

Tony was supposed to be angry with him, supposed to be short and curt, and Bucky was only drawing him out to tell him he was staying at Bruce’s so that Tony would get some sleep and not stay locked inside the workshop. But Tony didn’t sound angry with him at all. He just sounded a little sad.

“I know I’m the last person you want to see today,” he tried, gently, “I’m going to uh—” Bucky tried, only for Tony to cut him off, slurring and listing a bit to the side, catching himself a second later.

“Tha’s not true, but I’m going to let you believe it is,” he said, and poked Bucky in the chest with a snort of laughter, “also, I’m _wasted_ right now, babe, so don’t say anything I need’ta remember,” Tony grinned, then frowned at his holographic screen. “C’ome on Jay, you know what ‘m trying to do, just do the thing,” he whined.

“You’re trying to do several things, Sir. None of them with much success,” Jarvis said, loftily.

Tony grumbled.

Bucky blinked, ‘babe’? Tony only called him that during his heats, or the hours immediately afterwards when they were still untangling themselves from the lusty haze and the need to be close. Bucky loved when he did it, loved when it slipped out in those moments. He hadn’t expected to hear it now of all times, though.

Clearing his throat, Bucky tried again, “I was going to say, if you don’t want me around, I asked Bruce if I can crash there tonight—so you don’t have to… look at me,” Bucky said.

“I love looking at you,” Tony said, confused. Then he blushed, “Uh, I mean, uh—oh fuck, that wasn’t what I was supposed to say to that _at all_ ”.

Bucky blushed too, “That’s… not what I thought you were going to say,” he said lamely, but truthfully.

Tony was being his normal, flirty self—though without his usual confidence. It wasn’t what Bucky expected at _all_.

Something in the back of his mind was trying to get Bucky to fall down the rabbit hole. The one where he let himself fuel his hopes with little ‘oh, but he said you’re perfect’ and ‘he kissed you the other day, he must like you’. It was the rabbit hole he hoped led to Tony being as in love with Bucky as Bucky was with him, but that he knew led to heartbreak and misery.

“Everyone likes looking at you, I’m not being weird. It’s a known fact actually. The whole internet loves looking at you. It’s perfectly normal, you’re pretty, that’s what happens when you’re pretty, Bucky. People like looking at you, god, don’t make it weird,” he rambled, peeved and petulant.

Bucky laughed at his drunken ramblings, though his cheeks felt warm, “Well you would know, being so pretty yourself,” Bucky couldn’t help but smile.

Tony frowned, ignoring him, “Jarvis, scan it again—there’s nothing here,” Tony said. “How much pain are you in?” he asked, barely slurring, too focused on Bucky’s arm.

“Oh, uh…” he panicked, “It kind of comes and goes? It doesn’t hurt right this second,” he lied, instantly feeling bad about it.

“Try again without lying, omega,” Tony said, looking at the holograph.

Bucky swallowed thickly, “are you… how did you know I’m lying?” and when Tony looked over, motioned to the screen.

“I’m taking your vitals, your heart does the thing,” he said, distracted.

“No, it doesn’t!” Bucky denied, because it never did before! That was trained out of him too. Bucky made sure his heart rate stayed slow and even all the time. Polygraphs didn’t work, and even Nat could barely ready his micro-expressions.

Tony shot a pointed look at his screen, then continued squinting and arguing with Jarvis.

Bucky’s guilt grew by the second. He had no idea how Tony had managed to tell he was lying, but he couldn’t keep doing so. He should have left Tony alone. This was a horrible idea, drawing Tony out to fix something that wasn’t broken when it was clear the man needed to be as far away from Bucky as possible.

“I lied about my arm,” he whispered.

Tony spun to look at him so fast he almost fell over. Bucky bowed his head with shame.

“Jarvis said you weren’t coming home for a few days and I… wanted you to know that you could,” he mumbled, explaining, “come home, that is. Bruce is letting me stay there since you obviously don’t want to be around me—” but Tony cut him off again.

“Bucky, that’s not why I’m—I love having you around,” he said, then cursed, “I’m too drunk for this, but I promise, it’s not that I don’t want to be aroun’ you, Frosty” he listed to the side, and caught himself to glare at the table like it had shoved him or something.

“Oh,” Bucky said, “does that mean you’ll come home?” asked that stupid part of his brain which was shoving itself in that rabbit hole like a toddler trying to fit a circle into a square shaped hole.

The look on Tony’s face was strange. Heartbroken and excited and desperate, “Yeah,” he croaked, “I think I need to sleep this off,” he mumbled.

Bucky hadn’t thought it would be so easy, it shouldn’t have been so easy, “here? Now?” he asked.

Tony nodded.

He was holding Bucky’s metal hand now, his scans forgotten.

Tony squeezed, knowing the pressure needed to make it register.

“Come with me. Please,” the man said, voice breaking.

Bucky was nodding before he’d even finished speaking.

Tony curled around him in bed the same way he always did, but this time he reeked of alcohol and he cried horribly soft and silently against Bucky’s back.

Bucky kept whispering “I’m sorry,” and Tony kept crying, “Me too,”.

Before Tony fell asleep, he heard him sigh, “Mom would have loved you”.

***

Tony wasn’t in a great mood the next day, and it was him that woke Bucky up vomiting this time.

He dumped out all the alcohol in the penthouse and collected what he’d brought to the workshop, but he checked with Bucky to make sure it was okay before he started. He was quiet, didn’t yell or scream.

He had refused Bucky’s help with the endeavor. Told him it was part of the process. Told him he’d always struggled with drinking. When he was young, he struggled with even more. That he was a shitty person, but he had a system now. If he drank too much, he got rid of it all and started again. Couldn’t drink himself into a weeklong stupor if there wasn’t enough booze in the house to do it.

He broke one bottle, not because he tossed it or anything, just bumped it with his elbow and it fell on the floor.

He cut his hand, didn’t notice, and trailed blood all over the kitchen and Bucky nearly lost his mind at the site.

It wasn’t like Bucky lost his cool every time there was a bit of blood around. He was an Avenger, hell, he still killed people when he had to, when they were Hydra or AIM or terrorists.

He needed to know it was going to happen, though. He could do blood during battles, and blood in medical, and he expected a little bit of blood if he cut himself shaving, but he did not expect blood in the kitchen.

Didn’t expect Tony’s blood to be dripping all across the floor as he went about sweeping up the glass, somehow not seeing the pools of red, and dumping more bottles down the sink.

“Tony, Tony,” he was trying to say, but his voice was weak, and he couldn’t stop staring at the _blood._

There was so much of it.

Then he blinked and there was barely any at all.

Then there was _pools_ of it.

“Sir,” Jarvis said sharp, “agent Barnes, Sir”.

And Tony looked at him, Bucky whispered, “bleeding, you’re bleeding,” and then Tony had stopped his mission to purge all the alcohol from the apartment and cleaned up the blood with a curt nod.

Bucky was shaking when it was over, and he held Tony’s hand in his, trying to reckon with himself that the cut was so tiny that Tony hadn’t even _felt_ it. That Jarvis hadn’t even been able to see the few droplets of red on the floor.

“I’m sorry, if I don’t expect it… I just, my brain—I thought it was worse. I thought… It looked like it was _everywhere_ ,” Bucky whispered.

It was barely a papercut, Jarvis told him.

Tony had just smiled and thanked him for pointing it out.

“You’re really amazing, did you know?” Bucky had said, stupidly.

Tony had looked truly taken aback, “Did you miss the part where I told you I’m an alcoholic?” he asked, expression pinched.

Bucky shook his head, “Recovering alcoholic,” he said, pointing to the now dry kitchen, “You did that all on your own. No one told you it needed to happen. You recognized it could be a problem and you...” he motioned again, “That’s amazing, Tony. Be proud of yourself,” Bucky said and meant every word, even when Tony argued against him for a full thirty minutes.

After that, Bucky recognized he was being extremely clinging the next few days, but he couldn’t really _st_ _op_.

He didn’t know what was wrong. He was emotional, he was a bit whiney, he slept in Tony’s room every night even though he had originally planned to stop doing it all together, especially because Rhodes was around for a few days, and he got the impression the man didn’t like him very much. He cried because he thought Tony’s best friend hated him _, twice_. To add to it all, he woke up needing to vomit twice more, still without the memory of the nightmare that caused it.

It was an emotional whirlwind while the colonel stayed with them. By the end, he had no idea what kind of impression he left.

Rhodes glared at him when he came out of Tony’s room the first morning, but didn’t say anything.

The second morning, he grunted and said, “What’s the point of me sleeping downstairs if you’re not sleeping in the guest room?”.

Technically, there was four guest rooms in the penthouse. One in the loft—which was where Bucky stayed, and three downstairs near the kitchen and living room. Rhodes didn’t like the rooms as much, apparently the sun came in at an odd angle or something.

Rhodes also complained about Bucky’s scent, which is what made him nearly cry. He had said Bucky was giving him allergies.

“What, you suddenly develop a pollen allergy, Rhodey?” Tony had asked, voice challenging.

Pollen.

Bucky hadn’t heard his scent referred to as pollen before.

It made sense though. Steve had said it was dusty, made his nose tingle.

The second time Bucky nearly (or actually) cried, was because he’d overheard something he shouldn’t have.

“I just want to know what he’s getting out of all this,” Rhodes had said.

“Out of what?” Tony asked.

“Out of _this_ , Tony,” the colonel had replied, probably motioned at something, Bucky couldn’t see them from where he was in the loft. “Playing house with you, leading you on—everything. Kid already lives out of your pocket, the whole damn team does. He could do that in his own apartment,” Rhodes said.

 _Leading him on?_ Was Bucky leading Tony on? That didn’t make any sense. Bucky was obviously in love with Tony. The two alphas downstairs had to know that. How could Rhodes say that?! Did he really think this was all some plan to get something from Tony? Bucky would never take advantage of his alpha’s hospitality.

Bucky cried himself to sleep, sure that Tony would demand he pack up and leave in the morning.

He didn’t, but Bucky stayed in his own room all night, and Rhodes didn’t make a comment in the morning, so that was okay, he supposed.

That evening, the team all got together for dinner in the penthouse.

Rhodey cooked.

Bucky didn’t pout. Not that he let anyone see, at least.

Bucky had felt as close to neglected at an unmated omega can feel by their alpha roommate, which was apparently a lot.

He just wanted Tony to smile at him.

He achieved his goal, in a strange way, but he’ll take it.

It was only three days after the alcohol binge, so it wasn’t like the team knew not to bring beer or not to hand any to Tony. Clint had set one in front of Tony on the coffee table –aware not to hand things to the alpha. Tony had stared at it, glared at it, and then Bucky picked it up and handed it to Rhodes, who had been reaching to take it anyway. Bucky set his own soda on the coaster so another wouldn’t replace it.

“Here,” he said, reaching for one of the drinks Steve had brought, “Stevie brought me these old school sodas, they make my tongue itch –you’ll love it,” and he opened it with his metal hand and passed it over.

Tony accepted it directly from Bucky and took a drink.

“You’re right. That’s enough sugar to kill a lesser man. I love it,” He grinned, blindingly bright.

Bucky grinned back, finally letting himself relax for the first time since Rhodes had arrived.

It only lasted until he felt the other alpha’s eyes on him and turned. Maybe he was too close to Tony. He _wanted_ to be plastered to his side the way Laura was to Clint, but alas…

Rhodes looked at Bucky like he’d never seen him before, then tentatively lifted the beer he’d passed along, “Merry Christmas, Barnes,” he said.

Bucky tilted his head to the side, frowned, but accepted the toast with a hesitant, “Yeah, uh, merry Christmas”.

That was almost Jim’s approval.

Or at least that’s what Bucky chose to happily interpret it as.

It had been nice, having the team all together like that. The penthouse was awash in different scents, but somehow Bucky and Tony’s scent of spring was the most dominant, and it clung to the others more than theirs clung to the apartment. Bucky liked the way it smelled, maybe a little too much because after dinner, belly full of delicious food, Bucky had been lulled to sleep.

On Tony, because that was his life.

He woke up a while later, apparently not the only omega to have fallen asleep –Laura was snoring softly on her beta, though she was pregnant with baby number four, so who could blame her.

“Sorry,” he mumbled, blinking sleep away. Tony brushed his hair back, not really looking at him, still talking to Sam.

It was a habit, at that point, from sharing a bed and waking up together. Neither thought it was strange, but Steve made a noise that said he did.

“I was just saying how you and Tony should get a dog or something, place is too big for just the two of you,” Sam smiled.

Bucky laughed, “a dog?” he asked, “You ever have a pet, Tony?” he turned to the alpha.

Tony laughed, “My mom had one of those ugly naked cats for a while –it was horrible”.

“What about you, Bucky?” Sam asked.

“I had a dog, growing up,” he laughed, Steve made a confused sound, “scrawny little stray I found fightin’ in an alley I kept feeding scraps to ‘till my ma let me keep ‘im,” he said, “name was Steve,” he teased.

They all laughed at Steve’s sputtering.

It was nice.


	10. Chapter Ten

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Loki is back, and Bucky is ready for this curse to be over. Tony is very supportive as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just the one update today! Hope it's everything you've been hoping for ;)

Thing were nice, so, of course, that’s when Loki showed up a few days later, to help against some new magical _thing_.

“Perfect,” Bucky had growled, angry today because that was his life lately, an ever changing emotional rollercoaster, “I’m going to cut his fucking heart out,” he said to a room full of Avengers and SHIELD operatives. Thankfully Thor was absent. He hadn’t meant to say it out loud, but well… he really hated the guy right now.

“Wait, are you still cursed?!” Clint asked.

Bucky just growled, stood and said, “Call me when the fucker shows up,” and walked away.

Finally, it would be over. Bucky could admit, the compulsion for Tony to knock him up every few days had faded considerably over time, but he still imagined thousands of combinations of their features on their children and it was affecting his performance in the field. He wasn’t training like he should be either, too depressed when he thought of the next mission. His abs were _suffering_. Tony had teased him about it that other night with his hands cupping Bucky’s belly. Though they both fell asleep giggling.

It was just his luck that he didn’t get a chance to threaten Loki until _after_ the battle. That was probably for the best, anyway. It was just the Avengers and Fury in the debriefing room by then. Less witnesses.

“Listen here, wizard of oz,” Bucky seethed, “You’ve had your fun—get rid of this god damn spell or the next time you’re about to die, I’m gunna help things along”.

Loki blinked at him, and then laughed, “Feisty today, are we?” he said, condescending. The god tilted his head, quietly assessing Bucky, “Something’s different about you…” he hummed, then his features brightened, “Oh, I see. Your claim is gone—how sad, unless perhaps that was the regret that took precedence?”.

He couldn’t stop himself from flinching at the very idea but managed to clench his jaw and resume his glaring quickly. Not that it mattered, since Loki was basically the God of fake expressions himself.

“It wasn’t,” Bucky growled, more to assure Steve than anything. “You tellin’ me you don’t know what it is?” he asked.

“Don’t flatter yourself, mortal. Your affairs are meaningless to me,” he sneered.

“Don’t act like you don’t like watching us struggle,” he hissed, “get rid of the spell, Loki”.

“The spell will lift when it has fulfilled it’s purpose, Barnes” Loki said, smirking, “You should be thanking me you know. On Asgard, this spell is given as a kindness to the troubled. I am being _kind_ ,” he said, as if kindness was a new concept that he was introducing to the Avengers.

There was nothing kind about Loki’s spell. All it did was bring his misery to the forefront of his mind. And drive Tony crazy.

“Does kindness have a different meaning on Asgard? ‘Cause this feels a hell of a lot like torture,” he hissed, “I know a thing or two about that, you know. I’m thinking I might share my knowledge,” he growled, taking another step into Loki’s space.

“Torture,” Loki said, the corner of his mouth twitching with a smile.

“It’s been months, get rid of it!” Bucky repeated.

Loki tilted his head to the side, “Why is that, exactly? Surely you should have lifted it on your own by now,” and he didn’t sound like he cared, but he sounded curious anyway.

Bucky blinked at him, incredulous, “I _can’t_!” he felt himself yell, “I can’t fix something that happened eighty years ago!”

Loki paused a moment, then barked a laugh, “Oh, my” he said to himself, “I supposed I should not have left Thor to explain the finer details,” he said, mirth in his eyes.

“What are you on about?”

“The spell does not compel one to change the past, Barnes. It works only to heal you in the present. The spell is _selective_. It acts only on that which is in your control. It is not meant to undo what you’ve done—only to make piece with it,”.

“But I _can’t_ , Loki” and Bucky sounded a little too desperate.

He frowned, “You can, otherwise the spell would not have chosen it,” he said, “the spell acts only to provide opportunities so that you _can_ fix it,” he said.

“Well it’s broken then,” Bucky said, “that’s not what it’s doing”.

All the spell had done was make Bucky reek of fertility hormones for a mate who couldn’t smell it, or even do something about it. Then he’d gone and broken his mating bond and now he didn’t have an alpha! He couldn’t just go get himself pregnant tomorrow and crawl back to Steve, hoping he’d want to keep it. He was a full-time Avenger, he didn’t even have his own apartment.

And then there was Tony.

Bucky was so in love with the alpha, he couldn’t think straight half the time.

Tony wanted a baby, so what? Did that mean Bucky was supposed to let Tony knock him up, then share custody of their child with his roommate? No, Tony didn’t want anything to do with that. Tony wanted a real mate and a baby with them, a full family. He wanted nothing to do with the life of a single father—didn’t trust himself that way. Bucky would be willing to raise a baby himself, but he felt sick at the thought of letting some random alpha on him like that. And where would he go? He had nothing outside of the Avengers. Had no other skills. Could he make it as a single parent with no education besides what Hydra had taught him? Obviously not.

“What kind of thing does the spell usually do, Loki?” He heard Steve ask.

He’d momentarily forgotten they were there.

The god shrugged, “Typically it focuses around the regret of a certain choice. The spell will give the receiver the opportunity to face the choice again. I’ve given it to Thor in the past—the spell granted him a second chance at pursuing romance with the Lady Sif, he chose again not to do so and now feels it is no longer a regret. It is not so monumental, really”.

“Get rid of the spell, Rudolf,” Tony said. “Bucky’s right, it’s not something that can be fixed right now—it’s more of a problem than a solution,” and he sounded serious in a way he usually wasn’t.

“Wait, _you_ know what the curse is?” Clint asked.

“Doesn’t matter, just undo it, Loki,” Bucky said again.

The god sighed, a great, put upon thing, “Very well, but don’t expect any more acts of kindness after this,” he said.

There was a flash of green, and then Loki frowned.

Another flash of green, and he tilted his head.

“What was the regret? Are you certain it wasn’t Rogers’ claim on you?” Loki asked.

“It wasn’t that, no” Bucky said.

“It must have been,” Loki insisted.

“What? Why?”

“Because the spell has already lifted, Barnes,” Loki said, peevishly.

Bucky felt his heart skip a beat, but then his mind caught up at the impossibility of that situation. Bucky’s body was still making that fertility hormone –albeit not as often— and his mind was still plaguing him with dreams of what could have been.

“What? No, it hasn’t,” he said.

Loki just gave him an unimpressed look. To be fair, all the looks Loki ever shot him were unimpressed

“This would be a lot easier to figure out if we knew what the regret was, Bucky,” Nat said, frowning.

Bucky just shook his head, there was no way he was telling them. He was actually very proud that he’s managed to keep it from them all so long.

“No, it wasn’t Steve…” he said, thinking out loud, “unless that was just part of it?” he looked to Tony for help, “the bond breaking leaves the potential for the _thing_ …” he said, meaningfully, “but that doesn’t explain the… _other_ thing,” he said, hoping Tony would be able to read between the lines.

He was, yet another reason Bucky loved the man so much, “It’s possible,” he said, not sounding convinced, “but the bond didn’t need to be broken in order for the _thing_ to happen,” he pointed out, “as you so eloquently put in the lab that one time,” he said, and he pulled up a holographic screen, like he was trying to solve the puzzle with something there.

Bucky couldn’t help but blush at the reminder of the incident in the lab so long ago.

Loki rolled his regal eyes, “Whatever is was that you regret, you’re now being faced with the choice a second time,” and he prepared to leave, “make the choice and be free from this ‘torture’ as you so said,” Loki announced, “I am quiet finished with you lot today,” and then he was leaving.

“That doesn’t make any _sense_ ,” Bucky groaned out, frustrated.

Bucky wasn’t being faced with the choice a second time. Bucky wasn’t even in the same position as he was the last time. He didn’t even have a _mate_!

“Except that is does,” Tony said in that eager but horribly anxious way of his.

Bucky looked quizzically at the engineer. Everyone did.

“You’re being faced with the choice _exactly_ like you were the last time—not the choice to make the choice, do you get what I mean?” he said, an urgency in his tone, and he was up and moving around, pacing and not giving Bucky a chance to respond, not that Bucky knew what to say, because Tony was insinuating that he… but he couldn’t be. They knew that. It was just the alpha’s wistful thinking.

“Three’s a pattern, right?” Tony said, “So, here’s the pattern,” and he was all over the room, hands of mouth moving as fast as Bucky’s heart was pounding, “Mood-swings, morning sickness and a pseudo-heat that only lasted eight hours,” he listed, rapid fire.

Bucky felt his face drain of colour. He heard a sharp intake of breath from somewhere in the room, wasn’t sure if it was his own or a teammate.

“Here’s a few more, since I’m making a list and trying really hard not to project right now,” he said, just as quickly, panicky, “fatigue, loss of muscle mass, and high blood pressure,” he ticked off on his fingers, “That last one is tentative, I was drunk when I took the reading, but you’ve never failed a polygraph because you’re heart rate is so slow, but I saw the change when you lied the other night, so that means you’re heart is…” he trailed off.

_Beating for two._

Bucky’s hand immediately went to his stomach.

He felt faint.

Someone pulled out a chair and he was suddenly sitting. He thought it was probably Tony—he was moving so fast with nervous energy.

Bucky could hear little else but the rushing of blood in his ears.

“Bucky—Bucky what is he talking about!? Bucky!” Steve was shouting.

Bucky flinched.

“Are you…” he heard Nat trail off.

That was a half formed question he didn’t know the answer to.

Tony was right though, it did make sense.

He wasn’t being faced with the choice to _get_ pregnant again.

He already _was_.

He was being faced with the choice to _stay_ pregnant again.

“It was the kitchen chair abortion, Steve,” Bucky heard himself say, distantly, “the regret, the curse. It was… do you remember?” he sounded calm, an eery sort of sound, especially when Bucky couldn’t see anything—the room gone completely out of focus.

Could he actually be…?

He heard a noise, sounded like something hitting the table, “Oh my god, Bucky I—” he heard Steve gasp, “Of course I—I didn’t know if you did—I didn’t want to bring it up—I… I’m so sorry,” and it least he sounded it this time.

Bucky felt himself nod.

It made too much sense, now that he thought about it. Now that Tony was thinking about it.

The first heat they spent together broke hours before it should have. The pheromones that the spell had made impossible to control suddenly stopped being a problem unless Bucky was asleep and dreaming about their time together during his heat (dreaming of having Tony breed him), and even then, the pheromones were significantly less. Bucky’s next heat wasn’t a real heat at all, was it? Just a pseudo-heat, and Bucky’s own selfish desire to be intimate with the alpha he loved. His overly emotional state when Rhodes came around, a new alpha in his space and an important person in his own alpha’s life. Falling asleep randomly, not having the energy to train. The softness of his stomach muscles, the sensitivity of his chest.

“Hey genius,” he said, voice shaking, his eyes narrowed in on Tony, restless with that screen, “how sure are those numbers your running?” he asked with a confidence he did not feel.

Tony’s voice was all faux casual and nonchalant, “Depends, am I the only uh… candidate?” he asked.

It startled a snort of laughter from Bucky, enough to shake the fogginess of disassociation and he buried his face in his hands, “Asshole, I’m not even answering that,” and he peaked between his fingers enough to see Tony relax minutely.

“So, then about ninety percent, but apparently that is not a confident number, _Bruce_ ” he said, shooting a look at the other scientist.

The birth control. The ninety percent effective birth control that Bucky took only _most_ of the time.

“Holy shit, your serious,” Bruce cursed, “he’s actually…” he trailed off and looked at Bucky’s belly like it would confirm the suspicion.

Bucky covered it with his hands.

“Is no one going to say the word?” Clint said, the eyeroll in his tone.

He wasn’t sure he was ready for someone to say it.

“Bucky’s pregnant!” Tony said it, loud, abrasive, a little too excited.

Bucky hid the smile in his hands. He shouldn’t find Tony adorable right now. Shouldn’t feel a bubble of excitement in his own chest at the words.

He glanced up to see a horribly pinched expression on Steve’s face, concern on Nat’s, excitement on Clint’s, apprehension on Bruce’s and anger on Fury’s.

“Don’t sound so smug, Stark,” Fury cut in with disdain, “You’ve just cost me _weeks_ without one of my best agents!” He seethed.

“Weeks?” Bucky asked, voice shaky with Fury’s implications.

Bucky hadn’t been sure. He _still_ wasn’t sure what happens next, with Tony, with Steve, with Bucky’s job, with his living situation. He did know one thing, and it was thanks to Fury’s assumption that the choice was made so clear.

“You’ll have to go through psych after—”

“No, Nick,” Bucky said laughing, sounding a bit crazy even to himself, “I’m _done_ ,” he said grinning at the one eyed alpha.

Bucky wasn’t going through that again. He wasn’t living with any more regret. He had already taken so many lives. It was time he gave one instead. He would do right by this baby. It wouldn’t wash away anything that he’d done –but it might be enough to combat the nightmares. He could imagine, waking to the hungry cry of his baby instead of the screams of the Winter Soldiers victims. Waking up and knowing he could soothe instead of just making things bloodier.

“Bucky are you sure that—” and that was Steve.

He was sure.

“Retired,” he said, “just so we’re clear. Not maternity leave. I’m retiring”.

His eyes sought Tony, who looked as anxious as Bucky felt. Maybe a little more unsure than the omega.

Didn’t know where he stood.

Neither did Bucky. Would Tony tell him it was for the best not to go through with it, like Steve had? He doubted it. That didn’t mean that Tony would want to help him, or be involved at all. It probably meant Bucky would be leaving the penthouse. That he’d need to find his own place that was safe enough to raise his baby.

Bucky bit his lip, nervous.

“Tony?” he asked, and the alpha’s eyes were on him like he’d only been waiting for the sound, “is this okay?” he whispered.

Tony looked away, but it was only to growl a loud and rumbly, “Get out,” to the team, and then he was kneeling on the floor in front of Bucky who was still sat in the chair Tony had ushered him in.

“It’s really mine?” he whispered, staring at Bucky’s belly, then following with gentle hands. Bucky was so used to those hands there, it relaxed him right away.

“Yes, Tony,” Bucky found himself nodding, “your baby,” he whispered, remnant of their first heat together.

Tony was stroking over Bucky’s still flat belly with absolute reverence, skilled fingers trembling.

“I’d like to take you back to the penthouse now, if that’s alright,” Tony said, still staring with wide, adoring eyes.

Bucky nodded and let Tony pull him to his shaking legs. Then he was being held against Tony in a bone crushing hug, the alpha’s nose buried in his throat –breathing him, scenting him. Bucky did the same to Tony, felt himself start to shake even as he tried to get more of that sea-salt and hot metal scent in his lungs.

Bucky didn’t know what to do now. He was keeping his baby, of course he was keeping his baby, but besides that unwavering fact, Bucky had no idea what he was doing. Where could he go? He had nothing outside the Avengers, no friends or family, no mate, no home. He didn’t want to lose the family he had found in the Avengers, but he couldn’t be an Avenger and a parent at the same time, that much was clear.

His thoughts were interrupted once they made it to the elevator.

Tony kissed him.

It was harsh and desperate, a needy thing that had Bucky pinned to the wall much like he had been before his pseudo-heat a few weeks ago. Bucky kissed back with the same amount of passionate greed, let his hands rove the hard planes of the alphas body, feeling those still trembling hands all over his hips and waist.

What were they doing?

This was comfort. That he knew. Tony and Bucky had been crossing this line to provide comfort for while now.

What did it mean that they took comfort this way?

The elevator dinged upon their arrival to the penthouse, and they stumbled out still wrapped up together.

Bucky didn’t think this was goodbye, but he couldn’t shake the fear of not knowing what tomorrow would bring. Where he would go. What he would do.

Would he wake up, vomiting on his knees in Tony’s bathroom for the fourth time, only for the alpha to tell him that it would be the last? Would Tony be around for birthdays and holidays? Or would this be what drove the alpha to finally find a mate of his own.

Bucky pulled Tony’s t-shirt up over his head, Tony retaliated, pulling him into the alpha’s room to push him gently onto the bed, then rid him of his shirt as well.

Bucky’s lungs were filled with their combined scent. The scent of spring. He saw the baby blanket, the little socks on the nightstand.

Something like hope climbed in his chest.

“Tony,” Bucky gasped against the other man’s mouth, “Tony I—” he murmured, “please,” he begged, “Please keep us, alpha,” he asked, desperate.

Tony made a choked off sound, kissed Bucky even harder, let his fingers dig into Bucky’s hips in a possessive sort of way.

Bucky wanted him so bad.

Wanted to be his.

They could raise their baby together, as a family. Here in the tower, with his friends, with Steve. Their baby would be so safe, _so loved_.

“Yes,” Tony hissed, sounding wrecked.

“I love you,” Tony whispered, and he pulled back enough to look into Bucky’s eyes, misty with emotion, “I love you so much, I—” he breathed.

Tony loved him?

Could that be true?

He wanted it to be true. He’d spent the last three months telling himself it wasn’t. Telling himself he was reading into everything the alpha did, trying not to let himself get his heart broken.

That’s what Steve had said would happen.

Bucky would fall in love and Tony would break his heart.

Tony wasn’t breaking his heart right now. Tony’s hands were on Bucky’s body like he was worshiping his very being, gentle, greedy, reverent.

Tony loved him.

“I love you, too,” he rushed, “I love you” he repeated, pulling Tony into another kiss, “I want to be yours, please,” he moaned softly.

“Oh god, Bucky” Tony moaned, “Yes,” he agreed, “Mine,” he growled a murmur.

Bucky’s heart was pounding.

Tony _wanted_ him.

The alpha was stripping Bucky of the remaining of his clothes with both care and urgency, mouth claiming every new inch of skin he revealed with kisses, licks and bites.

“Mine,” Tony kept saying. Bucky felt the word more than he heard it, but he could tell what it was as Tony repeated it against his skin.

“Please, Bucky,” Tony whispered into the skin of Bucky’s throat.

Bucky was distracted by the trail of kisses from metal to flesh and back again as Tony slid inside Bucky’s body. The stretch burned in the best way –not in heat, but still plenty wet and open for the alpha’s length.

Tony gave him time to adjust this time, kept a steady mantra of, “mine, Bucky, love you,” as he gripped one hand iron tight over Bucky’s hip and the other around Bucky’s back making the omega arch into the perfect angle.

Tony’s teeth scrapped along the tendon of Bucky’s throat and sent sparks along his spine.

When the alpha started thrusting into Bucky’s body at the omegas pleading, he was slow but _hard_ , coaxing Bucky’s body to accommodate his length, carving out space for himself inside Bucky and Bucky never wanted it to end. Never wanted Tony to leave.

Bucky could hear himself begging, had his legs wrapped around Tony trying to pull him in closer, closer still.

Bucky tried to keep his metal arm at his side, but it kept finding it’s way onto Tony’s body, cold metal dragging up the alpha’s back and making him shiver, “Mine, please, Bucky,” Tony panted into his throat.

Bucky’s mind was foggy, thoughts moving syrupy slow with pleasure and need. His body alight with how much Tony _wanted_ him. It took him far to long to realize the alpha was begging.

Even longer to realize what he was begging _for_.

Bucky was agreeing between one drag of the alphas cock inside him and the next.

“Mate me, Tony,” Bucky heard himself gasp, turning his head to give the alpha space.

Tony wanted Bucky to be his. Was begging the omega to be his, to let him sink his teeth into the over sensitive flesh he was lavishing with the wet of his tongue and scrape of his beard.

Bucky wanted to be his.

He had a fleeting thought, ‘was it too soon’, but Tony’s fingertips skimming across Bucky’s belly on his way to grip the omegas cock sent a heady reminder of the future they would be forever tangled together in.

If the reminder of the baby they were having wasn’t enough to solidify Bucky’s decision, Tony’s broken begging was.

There was so much emotion in Tony’s voice and body language. No sarcasm, no humour. Just passion, desperation, love, adoration, greed, protectiveness, awe, excitement, hope… and pain. Like he expected Bucky to say no, but asked anyway. Asked without using the words because if he said it, the rejection he was waiting for would be real.

Tony was forty-three, never had a pregnancy scare and never mated. He was rich and handsome and had no shortage of lovers at any point in his life.

Never mated.

And here he was.

Begging Bucky to be his.

Elated and breathing in the scent of Bucky, pregnant with his child.

Bucky had no choice but to feel Tony’s love for him.

Tony suddenly had both hands on Bucky’s face, forcing him to wrap his legs a little tighter to keep the alpha where they both needed him.

“Bucky,” he whispered, eyes wide and shining. Dark lashes framing his eyes that held barely contained glee.

Like a kid on Christmas.

Like this was everything he ever wanted.

It was everything Bucky had ever wanted.

“Merry Christmas,” Bucky sighed a smile.

“Oh god, you’re perfect,” Tony breathed, smiling.

Bucky brought their lips together, Tony let him have control for a long while. Let Bucky’s tongue into his mouth to taste every part of him. Tony slowly chased the omegas tongue, gained back the control he had given and claimed Bucky’s mouth.

Bucky shifted his hips, tried to get the alpha deeper inside him.

Tony groaned, pulled back enough to hook one of Bucky’s legs over his shoulder and stuff a few pillows under him.

Bucky giggled, but trailed off into a long, drawn-out moan as Tony sunk into him again.

This was exactly how they ended up in this situation.

He couldn’t be happier.

“Can you knot me?” Bucky panted.

Tony’s hips stuttered and he groaned, “Yes, yeah,” hands all over Bucky’s body, “are you sure?” he asked, “you’re not in heat,” he pointed out.

Bucky whined, “I can take it,” he hissed.

He wanted them tied together when Tony bit him.

He felt Tony nod against his throat, felt the alpha shaking against him.

He pulled Tony up enough to look at his alpha, wanted to watch him come undone in Bucky’s body.

Swirling red was slowly seeping into the whiskey brown, dark and dangerous, black and bloody.

“Mine,” Bucky whispered.

He felt the rumbling of a purr-like growl against him, saw that red take over completely, felt himself falling into that black sun, felt the heat of pounding blood all around him.

Bucky tilted his head back, watched Tony’s eyes rove the exposed skin, expression analytical, calculating even as he continued to thrust into Bucky’s body with deep and well aimed movements.

Tony lowered his face to Bucky’s throat, Bucky’s body spasmed with a shiver, felt Tony’s lips against skin and metal.

Bucky’s eyes fluttered shut, but he couldn’t help ask, “there? Are you sure?” in a tiny, broken voice. Self-conscious and nervous.

That side of him was so horribly scarred. The metal came up to the junction of his neck and shoulder, and even a little further under the skin. Tony’s tongue ran along the seam and the sensation sent a shudder through him.

“Yes,” Tony growled, “right here,” he said and nipped at a spot at the front of Bucky’s throat, it would be so clearly visible there, angled along the tendon.

The possessiveness of the placement wasn’t lost on Bucky.

The side of his body that had been mutilated by ruthless scientists, the opposite side from where Steve’s mark had been, the front of his throat where it would be seen by everyone. It would be strong and visible, unlike Steve’s that was always weak, and low at on the side of his throat.

He nodded as much as he could, “Yes, alpha,” Bucky moaned softly.

“Mine?” Tony growled, lowly.

“Yours, Tony” Bucky gasped, feeling Tony’s tongue and lips against that spot like a threat, a promise.

Bucky was in the rare position of actually knowing what it was going to feel like, so when it didn’t feel anything like he expected it to, he was… shocked.

Tony’s teeth sinking into him didn’t ache, didn’t sting, didn’t burn.

His alphas bite sent electricity through his body, sent shockwaves of _pleasure_ directly to Bucky’s brain, his body. He was moaning something that might’ve been Tony’s name, might’ve just been sounds but came out as gibberish anyway. His fingertips and toes went numb, he was hot and cold at the same time and somehow it felt good, felt great. Bucky was coming completely untouched between their bodies he was sure.

He was dimply aware of Tony’s knot swelling inside him, pushing his body to accommodate his alpha. He barely felt the painful stretch, hyper-focused on the way he couldn’t focus because the pleasure was everywhere that wasn’t completely numb.

When Tony’s mouth released him, he shuddered all over, felt cold until his alpha licked gently at the wound and sending heat chasing down that electricity.

“Tony,” Bucky gasped, slurred, “alpha,” he whispered, “my alpha.”

Tony growled his pleasure against the still healing mark.

Bucky pawed with numb extremities at Tony, trying to get his own mouth against the alpha. His alpha.

“Mine,” Bucky said again, repeated it until Tony raised his head for him.

Bucky didn’t need as much time to make a decision about where to sink his teeth as Tony had.

Tony had actually made the decision for him.

Bucky’s lips sealed over the same place on Tony’s throat as was burning with pleasurable heat on his own.

He felt the rumbling of agreement in Tony’s chest and was sinking his own teeth into the alphas tender flesh in the same moment. Applied the pressure slowly, let Tony feel his body give way for Bucky’s claim.

Tony’s hands spasmed where they were on his hip and thigh, his cock twitching and jumping inside Bucky’s body. Tony growled, let it break off into a moan, then hitching breaths of “Bucky, Bucky, Bucky,” and when Bucky licked over the wound, he saw the alpha’s blood red eyes rolling into the back of his head.

When they kissed, there was the taste of blood in both of their mouth’s, but Bucky didn’t actually mind it. He could feel the throbbing in his neck still sending shocks of pleasure through his body and knew that the blood was a good thing.

“I love you,” Bucky whispered, voice wrecked.

“That’s—” Tony croaked, cleared his throat, “That’s good, because I love you,” he rasped.

His eyes, when he looked down at Bucky with a blinding smile, were brown again.


	11. Chapter Eleven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There is no shortage of idiocy within the Avengers, that much is clear to Bucky.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> God damn it, Steve.

Bucky woke up to Tony trailing his fingers over his stomach.

“We’re both idiots,” Tony said with a smile.

Bucky yawned, stretching. Tony’s smile grew. He raised an eyebrow at the engineer, “Why’s that? Not that ‘m arguin’” he said. It did take them way too long to figure out they were in love with each other.

“You’re showing,” Tony whispered, eyes shining with pride.

Sleepy, Bucky blinked, “Wha?”

Tony chuckled, placing his warm palm over Bucky’s belly again, “You’re three months pregnant, and _showing_ ,”

Frowning, Bucky replied, “Am not,” he rubbed his eyes, “’m not that oblivious,” he defended.

He looked down at his stomach, Tony moved his hand.

Bucky was aware his abs had been getting less defined, which they were _significantly_ less defined from this angle. He took a breath and tried to tighten his abdomen and there was a little… bump.

Just a slight curve away from his body, tiny, barely adding a full inch to his waist –but it was there.

“Oh my god, how did we miss that?” he giggled.

Tony spent nearly every night with his hand’s on Bucky’s belly pretending he was swelling up with their baby –that whole time he _had_ been.

“I love you,” Tony said in answer.

Bucky kissed him.

“I love you too”.

***

That afternoon, Bruce gave Bucky an ultrasound.

The other omega had given Bucky and Tony’s matching bond marks a raised eyebrow, “Glad to see you worked that out,” was all he said before gently herding Bucky onto a bed. They were in the medical wing, but had decided to keep this out of SHIELD’s files, so Bruce was playing doctor until Tony hired a private physician for Bucky and the baby.

Because that was a thing. Tony and Bucky making decisions about their baby together. Tony taking care of them.

Tony _happy_ to take care of them.

Tony almost fainted at the sound of the second heartbeat.

Bucky started crying.

“We still all doing Christmas dinner at your guys’ tomorrow?” Bruce asked as a distraction when drawing a blood sample.

Bucky had nearly forgotten. Now that Bruce brought it up, he was excited.

Everyone would be there. Pepper and Rhodes, the team, agent Hill and Coulson, Laura and the kids. They’d be able to tell everyone, at least those who didn’t already know.

They’d all see the newly healed and matching bond marks, too.

Would Rhodes be happy? Or angry?

He hoped everyone would be happy and supportive… it’s not like this could be un-done now. Neither could having a baby together, so he supposed that was the point.

“Course,” Bucky agreed, “Tony’s helping me prep tonight, aren’t you, dear?” Bucky teased, Tony didn’t seem to mind, just nodded enthusiastically, hand in Bucky’s and eyes on the little grey blob of their child.

Bruce said, “Everything looks good here,” he smiled “You’re eleven weeks along, but I’m guessing you knew that already,” he said with a knowing look.

“Right, what did happen to ninety percent effective, anyway?” Tony asked, tearing his eyes from the screen, amusement in his voice.

Bruce frowned, “I don’t know actually—” he said.

Bucky was suddenly very aware of his heartrate alongside the baby’s coming from the machine.

All those days he forgot his birth control.

He had known. Known when he told Tony to forget the condom. He was in heat, his brain addled with hormones and need, the spell too, but he still _knew_. He’d told Tony it was fine. He’d coerced the alpha into ignoring his own concern. Forced Tony into a position where he was just as impulsive and addled with need as Bucky was.

This was all Bucky’s fault.

A little bit Loki’s

Mostly Bucky’s.

“I forgot to take it,” Bucky blurted, unable to keep his mouth shut, “Sometimes,” he added, then winced.

He needed to be honest. How could they go into raising this baby if Bucky was hiding this? Lying about this.

“Oh,” he heard Bruce say.

“I thought it was still working because my heat was later like you said it would be, and then the pseudo-heat was late too, so…” he explained, not able to look up at the alpha still holding his hand.

What if this changed his mind? They had already bonded, it was unlikely to break as gently as Steve’s had, if at all –but Tony could decide he didn’t want to have the baby, didn’t want to be with Bucky and then they’d be miserable, bonded but refusing each other, refusing the bond.

Surprisingly, he felt Tony kiss his head, “Well, it’s not like I’m complaining,” he said as if that was really all there was to it, “besides, in the grand scheme of you forgetting things, this isn’t so bad,” he laughed.

They mated because they were in love. They fell in love because they both wanted the same things.

A baby.

A family.

Each other.

That’s all there was to it.

Bucky couldn’t help but laugh too. “God, that’s dark, Tony” he giggled.

“Ninety percent effective actually accounts for a few missed doses,” Bruce said, scratching his chin, “of course, being in heat lowered that a bit, and if Tony was in rut that stimulates ovulation…” he mused to himself.

Bucky was assaulted with the reminder of everything else that was… stimulated… during his heat. His cervix, his uterus, his _cock_.

Pairing a few missed doses of birth control with everything the rutting alpha did to make sure his seed did in fact take, it was probably closer to a ninety percent chance that the pills _wouldn’t_ work.

Tony seemed to have the same thought, “Yeah, lots of factors to consider, Brucie-bear, probably don’t need to think too hard about it,” he said with a suspicious smile.

Bruce squinted at him, “Since when do you not want to think too hard about something?” he asked, skeptic.

There was a blush rising along the back of the alpha’s neck, it made Bucky smile.

“I’ll bet Tony’s thought very long and hard about the factors that could have led us here, Bruce,” Bucky grinned cheekily, “I just think he’d prefer that _you_ didn’t,” he winked.

Bruce blinked, confused for a moment before realization dawned, “Oh,” he said, “Oh!” and then the other mans cheeks filled with pink too.

Bucky felt pretty shameless in the face of the two blushing scientists and had a good laugh at their expense.

When they were done, Bruce gave them (and by ‘them’ they all just meant Jarvis) a list of vitamins and diet changes needed for a pregnant super-soldier. Luckily it could wait until after tomorrows holiday dinner, which Bucky was glad for.

He didn’t feel like trading out his potatoes and gravy for spinach just yet.

On their way back up to the penthouse, Tony and Bucky stopped on the communal floor to pick up a few things for prepping tomorrows dinner. His alpha was clingy as hell and Bucky loved it, the two of them giggling like thieves, stopping to kiss or scent each other at random.

It was the honeymoon stage that Bucky had heard so much about, but never experienced with Steve. If that was due to the weaker nature of the bond, or just the fact they were in a war zone, Bucky wasn’t sure.

Bucky was pinned to the counter and laughing as Tony’s tongue traced the vibrant white of his bond-mark, “Oh that feels really nice,” he was laughing, breathless.

The bond-mark was bright, silvery white standing out sharply even on Bucky’s pale skin. On display even with his hair down, angled towards the metal of his arm.

Tony’s mark, identical to Bucky’s and oh, so visible –the press was going to lose their minds— was still healing, pale pink on his tan skin, but would heal to be just as bright as Bucky’s in the next few days.

Their scents were permanently combined this way, leaving the scent of spring on both their skin even if they were apart. Not that he thought that would happen anytime soon. Probably not until the next call to assemble when Bucky would stay _home_.

It felt amazing, having Tony’s mouth against the mark. It sent those little bursts of electricity across his skin, made him feel warm and surrounded by the alpha. He was about to jump up on the counter and let his alpha slot himself between his legs, their giggling kisses turning heated and intense, when he heard a sharp intake of breath.

“Bucky?” came Steve voice, broken and raw.

Shit.

Bucky hadn’t even thought about how to tell Steve.

He knew this wasn’t the best way to go about it though.

Steve didn’t exactly sound thrilled about Bucky’s choice about keeping the baby. He assumed Tony’s role played a part in why Steve’s first reaction was so negative.

“Hey Steve,” he replied, awkward. Tony straightened up, facing the other alpha but keeping his hand loose around Bucky’s waist.

“Heya, Cap,” Tony greeted.

The blonde’s eyes went from Tony to Bucky, to Bucky’s belly to Bucky’s throat, and then Tony’s throat. Then repeated the whole thing a few times, expression crestfallen.

“Bucky, oh my god, no,” Steve sputtered.

Bucky was not ready for this at all.

“Yeah, actually,” Bucky said awkwardly running his hand through his hair, trying to keep the hurt out of his voice.

He knew Tony wasn’t Steve’s favourite person, he should expect a little pushback.

He didn’t want Steve to push him about this, but he knew it would happen.

“Want me to leave you two alone?” Tony asked, looking nervous himself, like he’d like to be anywhere else right now.

Bucky nodded, “yeah, I’ll be up in a minute,” he said and tilted his head for Tony’s kiss.

He heard Steve make a noise, but otherwise paid him no mind as Tony’s lips brushed gentle over his own.

“You kids have fun now,” Tony joked as he left, shoulders tense. He knew Tony would be upstairs watching the whole thing in case he needed to interfere.

“He really—” Steve said, only to cut himself off, “ _You_ really…”.

Steve didn’t need to finish the sentence. Bucky knew what he was hung up on, eyes pinned to Bucky’s throat.

Bucky shrugged, “Yeah, last night…” he said, “we love each other,” he whispered, feeling like he was a teenage girl defending her secret lover to her father.

Steve shifted, “You barely know each other,” he said, soft and it came across horribly condescending. Keeping up the feeling that Steve was suddenly Bucky’s keeper and he, a hundred-year-old man, needed to justify this decision to be with Tony.

Bucky wanted to tell Steve he was wrong, but didn’t feel like justifying himself, “Well, we’ll have plenty of time to get to know each other, raising a baby together,” he glared.

He didn’t mean to jump right into arguing. He knew he’d escalate it that way, but he always did this when Steve hurt his feelings, and emotional and pregnant wasn’t a great time to start working on that character flaw.

“Bucky!” Steve said, appalled, “That’s not—” he sputtered, “That’s no reason to mate with someone!” he said, indignant.

Bucky didn’t roll his eyes, but it was a near thing, “I know,” he said, “that’s not why we mated, Steve, come on, I’m not an idiot”.

Steve’s face was a little red with his anger, Bucky was glad for the island between them.

“Are you sure about that?” Steve spat.

Bucky couldn’t help but flinch, “Tony wants me, Steve,” he said, voice gentler, “He loves me, he loves our baby,” Bucky told his friend.

Steve just shook his head, “You’re just an omega to him, Bucky,” Steve said it like he was talking to a child, gentle and patronizing.

Bucky felt tears in his eyes even as his own anger skyrocketed. There was the unspoken _he doesn’t really love you_ that even an idiot like Bucky could hear.

“I _am_ an omega, Steve,” Bucky whispered. “I’m an omega and Tony is good to me,” Bucky said, voice gaining confidence, “he loves me, he wants me, he’s amazing, Steve,” Bucky insisted.

“He’s not, Buck, he’s not what you think he is,” Steve still sounding like Bucky was a child.

Bucky motioned around them, “He’s exactly what I think, Steve,” he said, “he’s a god damn hero!” Bucky shouted like somehow maybe Steve missed that, “he’s fought for his life just as hard, if not harder than I have and look at everything he’s made for himself!”.

Bucky paced, “He took a corrupt million-dollar weapons company and turned it into a multi-billion-dollar clean energy and technology company over night!” Bucky yelled, “he’s built a literal tower full of superheroes!” he said, exasperated.

“Bucky,” Steve said on a sigh, “I get that the whole thing you have about being wanted, I do,” he stressed, “but Tony?” he asked, “keeping the…” and his eyes fell to Bucky’s stomach pointedly.

“I _wanted_ to keep _our_ baby, Steve,” Bucky said, voice cold, “is that what you want me to say right now?” he asked, bitterly, “It’s true, I did” he admitted with that same sharp edge, “I regretted losing it even before I did it,” he told him harsh, “You said it was for the best we didn’t keep it, right?” he asked, voice quivering, “Well I can’t say you’re wrong,” he said tightly, “Sure as shit don’t think you were right, either,” he spat.

“I want to have a baby and a family,” he said honestly, “I want to be an omega for once in my life,” he said, voice shrill, “I’m so tired of pretending that’s not what I am,” he turned to glare at Steve, “That can’t be surprising to you!” he yelled.

“I know you do!” Steve defended, “I’m not telling you that you shouldn’t ever have a family,” he said, quickly.

“Just not with Tony,” Bucky said flatly.

Steve shrugged, “Yes,” he said, unapologetic.

Bucky shot daggers with the look he gave Steve.

“Look,” Steve sighed, “I get the appeal,” he said plaintively, “he’s got money, he can provide, whatever” he said, non committedly, “but you have to realize, Buck,” he said, “Tony isn’t like Howard, he’s not a—”

“I should fucking hope not!” Bucky may have _screamed_. “That _can’t_ be your problem with Tony,” Bucky said, disbelieving, “are you still so stuck in the past that you’re expecting Tony to be _another_ relic from the forties?” he demanded.

At Steve’s sputtered ‘no’, Bucky continued, “What then?” he asked, cruel, “he didn’t live up to Howards legacy?” he spat, “Well I think that feeling goes both ways, _captain_ ,” Bucky glared.

“It’s nothing to do with that!” Steve yelled, “that’s not why I don’t like him!”

“Then what is it?” Bucky asked, voice quieter, “I think Tony’s perfect, Steve” he said, tired, “why don’t you like my mate?” his voice cracked.

“He can’t protect you!” Steve shouted, face red and angry.

Bucky flinched at the aggression, fought back the sound that wanted to escape his throat. He should have said ‘I don’t need him to,’ or maybe just, ‘yes, he can’ but instead, Bucky went for the jugular, true to the Winter Solider.

“Neither could you, so mind your own, Rogers”

He wanted to regret it. He almost did, at the horrible pained sound that Steve made, but then he saw Tony standing in the doorway and looking like he wanted to rescue Bucky, but he was frozen in place, brow creasing, hurt.

Bucky pushed past Steve, went straight for Tony and wordlessly led them to the elevator.

Tony was staring blankly in front of him, he blinked, “huh, I kind of thought we worked that out,” he said, voice light, “guess not, eh?” he smiled, fake and fragile.

Bucky frowned, he could feel it through the bond, Tony’s hurt and confusion.

He didn’t know what to say, so he went for obscure. That usually cheered Tony up.

“Your dad hated me,” he whispered, “I hated him, too”.

Tony looked up sharply, then barked a laugh, “Really?” he asked, like Howard hadn’t mentioned it.

Bucky nodded, “Didn’t live up to my expectations,” he said.

Tony smiled, looking away, Bucky felt contentedness through their bond.


	12. Chapter Twelve

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Christmas in Avengers Tower and Bucky and Tony get to tell their friends about the new developments. Somehow, it goes perfect.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sick of Steve, are you? 
> 
> So, thirteen chapters turned into fifteen and an epilogue. Hope that's okay :)

Bucky was surprised when Steve showed up the next day for Christmas dinner, but it looked like Sam had already come in from DC and was dragging Steve through the whole event.

The blond ignored Tony’s existence, and glared daggers at Bucky.

Bucky stopped letting it bother him after the fourth time.

At least, stopped letting it visibly bother him.

Tony could tell it was getting to him, somehow talked Sam into running interference without saying that interference needed to be done.

Bucky busied himself with cooking, serving, and playing with Lila, Cooper, and Nathaniel who wanted to tell him about all the toys his baby would need to have. He took their opinions very seriously and let them make a Wishlist for the little one.

When Tony greeted Pepper at the door, she took one look at him and whacked him upside the head.

“Why didn’t you tell me!” she asked, shrill.

Tony laughed, though then had to duck the next blow, “Jesus, relax,” he said, “It’s been less than forty-eight hours!” he said and that made Pepper stop her physical attack.

She huffed, about to say something when Rhodes came in behind her.

“Hey Pep, Ton—” and he cut himself off with a, “holy shit,” and then another, more excited, “holy shit!” and then Rhodes had Tony up off the ground in a hug.

“Well, where is he?” Pepper demanded, and Bucky awkwardly shuffled from around the corner.

“Hey,” Bucky said awkward but smiling.

Was Bucky who they expected? Or would they be shocked to see the matching scar on Bucky?

Apparently, there was no other candidates in Tony’s life either, Rhodes and Pepper smiled genuine and bright when he stopped a few feet away and gave a little wave.

“Get over here, man,” Rhodes said grinning.

“Just don’t squeeze him as hard as you did me,” Tony said lightly, but in the meaningful way of his.

Pepper looked sharply to Tony, “Tony… what are you saying?” she asked, slowly.

Tony scratched his beard, shrugging.

Bucky decided he’d just let them figure it out, too and leaned in to give Pepper a brief hug.

Of course, she would smell it on him.

Gasping, Pepper grabbed Bucky’s face in a gentle grip, “Oh my god,” she said, barely contained joy, “Congratulations!” she said and brought him in for another hug, tight around his shoulders as she breathed him in.

“What?” he heard Rhodes say, “No way!” he exclaimed, “Tony that’s great!” he was saying, and when Pepper released him, Rhodes pulled him into a similar embrace and breathed in the scent.

Bucky felt amazing relief at how easily Pepper and Rhodes accepted him, accepted their decision with the baby. He wished Steve was as supportive –but he tried not to think about that.

When Maria Hill arrived, she found Bucky immediately, “Hey, what’s this about you retiring?” she asked, “No one will tell me any—oh my god,” she said, spotting the mark.

Bucky smirked, “Yeah, I’m retired” he said, “Had another opportunity I couldn’t pass up”.

“Tony?” she asked like she already knew the answer.

Bucky nodded.

“Retiring to be a kept man?” She raised an eyebrow.

Bucky grinned wider, “Stay at home dad, actually,” he said.

Her mouth dropped and then she was smiling and hugging him just like Pepper and Rhodes, “Congratulations,” she said into his neck.

Bucky couldn’t stop himself from smiling the whole time, baring the few moments he caught sight of Steve.

Coulson smiled at him but didn’t hug him and offered his congratulations to Tony instead and Bucky didn’t mind so much. It reminded him of the alphas of his day, and he was sure that’s why Coulson did it because he was otherwise very progressive with all the other omegas in his charge.

When Clint, Laura and the kids arrived, Bucky got to give the news again to Laura, since Clint hadn’t passed it along.

Clint also hadn’t known about the mating mark and gaped at it for a long moment, then let his eyes seek out Tony and come back to Bucky, “Thank god, I couldn’t take another month of you two skirting around your feelings,” he sighed.

“Bucky, you’re glowing,” Laura said with a warm smile, touching his arm in a gentle caress.

Bucky smiled, “So are you,” he replied.

He saw the moment she realized what he meant, “Oh congratulations!” she said, “how far along are you? I can’t believe I didn’t notice before now,” she said.

He chuckled, “I didn’t notice either, to be fair” he said, “eleven weeks,” he told her.

“You’ll be showing soon,” Clint teased, and gave Bucky’s belly a gentle pat.

That seemed to get the kids attention, which barely wavered from Bucky for the rest of the evening. They didn’t know about their own new sibling yet, the plan to reveal the news in the morning after the kids had unwrapped their gifts, so they were all interested in Bucky’s new baby and the prospect of their new ‘cousin’.

“Is it going to be a girl or a boy, Bucky?” Cooper needed to know for the baby’s wish-list.

Bucky looked over at Tony sitting next to him at the table and chatting with Pepper, “We don’t know yet, but that just mean’s they’ll get all kinds of toys, right babe?” he smiled.

“Every toy under the sun,” Tony agreed, serious.

“Woah, lucky,” Nathaniel said with wide eyes, he’d snuck out of his seat to plaster himself to Bucky’s side, “Lila never lets me play with her barbies,” he pouted.

“You get them sticky!” she complained, “Besides, Santa’s bringing you your own this year so that you’ll stop asking” she rolled her eyes.

Nathaniel lit up with excitement.

Bucky did too, but for entirely different reasons.

He’d get to have his own little ones to do this with soon.

“Watcha gunna name it if it’s a boy?” Nathaniel asked, rubbing Bucky’s belly with a chubby little hand the way he’s seen his dad do when they arrived.

Bucky couldn’t help but laugh. His belly wasn’t even visible, Clint was just being an ass, but it was too cute for him to say anything.

“We don’t know yet, buddy,” he said again, “we only found out there’s a baby in there two days ago,” he laughed, tickling his side.

Nathaniel gave a delighted little squeal but returned to his task of staring at Bucky’s belly as if it may grow before his eyes.

“I’m named after auntie Tasha,” he said, proudly.

Bucky nodded, “You sure are,” he agreed, “are you going to be as strong as her some day?” he asked.

Nathaniel nodded, “Yep,” he said, popping the ‘p’.

Bucky hummed, “well if that’s the case, I think maybe you should go finish those beans you hid under your plate,” he faux-whispered.

Nathaniel’s eyes widened, “Woah,” he said, “you’ve got mommy eyes already!” he shouted but scurried back to his seat when Laura gave him a look.

Bucky felt a weird sense of pride at that, and he beamed at Tony who beamed right back.

After dinner and desert the group moved into the living room and Jarvis queued up Christmas music, a mix of classic and new.

“You’re not too old to dance with me, are you Cooper?” Nat asked grinning.

The preteen groaned, rolling his eyes, “Fine,” he said, unable to hide the slight smile.

“What a gentleman you’ve got here, Clint,” she laughed.

It looked like a tradition, Nat leading Cooper in a waltz that did not match the song at all, Clint and Laura getting up to join them. Nat spun herself away from Cooper to pull a giggling Lila in, just as Clint did the same, scooping Nathaniel up into his arms, Cooper groaned again at being swept up into his mom’s arms but allowed it nonetheless.

Everyone grinned at the family, and eventually Pepper pulled Bruce to his feet and joined them, followed by Rhodes dragging Helen up, only to immediately trade for Pepper –leaving the two doctors together in something that must have been planned. Maria coaxed a dance from Coulson but ended up with Nat when Lila came back over to Bucky.

“Can I dance with Tony?” she whispered in his ear.

Bucky grinned, “You’ll have to ask him that,” he replied.

She shifted nervously then nodded, face stern and crawled over him to nudge Tony.

He could hear her not-so-quiet whisper when she leaned over him, “Can you dance with me?” she asked, blushing.

Tony smiled brightly, “Why of course!” he said, “I thought you’d never ask,” he got up with a dramatic bow.

Tony helped Lila up onto his feet, then walked her through the steps of a real ballroom waltz, she giggled with rosy cheeks the whole time.

“You’re better than auntie Tasha!” She squealed in delight as Tony gave another deep bow at the end of the song.

Rhodes began to clap, making Lila’s cheeks further red, having not realized they had an audience. Clint gave a whoop, “high society in here tonight,” he teased.

Nathaniel wanted his own turn, and Tony indulged him as well, going so far as to toss the toddler and catch him, since his feet didn’t touch the ground anyway. Nathaniel giggled just as hard as Lila did.

Bucky was aware that there were other people dancing too, but his eyes were on Tony and the giggling boy in his arms and he couldn’t stop smiling.

When the song finished, Tony turned to Bucky and held out a hand.

“Oh,” he laughed, “I don’t know how to dance like that, doll,” he grinned, “I don’t think I can stand on your feet, neither,” he laughed but took the offered hand.

“We’ll go slow,” Tony smiled, and he hummed the tune he was dancing to, the music Jarvis was playing was entirely different.

Bucky stumbled through it until Tony simply had his arm around Bucky’s waist and they were swaying to the same song as the others, Tony smiling that blinding smile that had his eyes crinkling at the corners.

“I like when you smile like that,” Bucky heard himself say.

Tony smiled even wider.

“Sap,” he teased, then kissed him.

They heard Cooper making gagging noises, so Tony dipped him and kissed him harder.

They broke away laughing, Bucky’s eyes went to seek out Steve, but his attention was pulled by Nathaniel who was rubbing his eyes with sleepiness, “My turn?” he asked, pulling on Bucky’s hand.

“You wanna dance with me?” Bucky asked, the boy nodded, “Well okay, but I’m not as fun as Tony,” he warned.

Nathaniel didn’t seem to mind, in fact Bucky realized that dancing was just a ruse. Nathaniel was falling asleep against his chest as Bucky swayed them back and forth. He looked to Clint, who rolled his eyes like this was typical, and then Bucky just sat back down with Nathaniel still in his arms.

“I love babies,” the little boy sighed snuggling a little closer and then falling back to sleep.

Bucky looked up at Laura who was taking a photo, smiling.

Bucky stayed unbearably still for a long time before he realized that Nathaniel was sleeping peacefully through all the ruckus the rest of the group was making and let himself relax.

Tony wrapped his arm around him, and then Bucky was nodding off too.

***

“Merry Christmas, Frosty,” Bucky heard Tony whisper into his hair.

Smiling, Bucky stretched and rolled over in bed to face his alpha.

“Merry Christmas, alpha,” he mumbled into their kiss.

Tony’s hands roved over the metal of Bucky’s arm.

“I made you something,” he said.

“I thought we already did our gift exchange,” Bucky teased, tracing his finger along Tony’s mating mark.

Tony hummed and tilted his head back, letting Bucky’s mouth attach to his throat, nipping gently and licking at the bond.

“I love giving presents,” he said, “it’s a problem, you should know,” he informed, eyes closed. Bucky could feel the vibrations against his lips.

Bucky laughed, “I do know,” he mumbled into his alpha’s skin. When he pulled back he smiled, “I made _you_ something, too”.

Bucky wasn’t sure how Tony would take his gift. Tony claimed not to be sentimental, but the more time he spent around him, the more he found that Tony really _was_. Tony was a lot of things he claimed not to be. Sentimental, sensitive, perceptive. All things the alpha said he was lacking that Bucky found he had in abundance.

Still, he felt he might be going out on a limb with this gift.

Tony looked surprised, an almost vulnerable expression of excitement on his face. “You made _me_ something?” he asked, like he just couldn’t fathom why Bucky would do such a thing.

Bucky felt a kind of quiet sadness at that, but he smiled anyway, “Of course,” he said giving his alpha a quick kiss, “it’s Christmas,” he pointed out.

Tony chuckled, shrugging like that meant nothing at all, and tried to move on. Bucky let him, fully knowing that Tony’s expectation of never receiving gifts would be something they’d need to work on, something _Bucky_ would need to work on.

“In light of recent events, you can’t actually have your gift just yet,” Tony informed with another kiss, his hand smoothing over Bucky’s belly.

He pouted, “No?” he asked, “Why not?”.

Tony grabbed his watch from the nightstand and opened up a holoscreen, “I’ll show you, that’ll make it easier,” he said.

Tony pulled up the file Bucky had seen glimpses of in the past few months, it didn’t take him long to figure out why he had thought it familiar before, why he had thought it was an Iron Man gauntlet.

“Is that… my arm?” he asked, confused.

Tony brought the 3D model out from the screen. It wasn’t _his_ arm, but it was an arm.

“It will be, in about six months,” he said and flicked the model towards Bucky. It immediately fitted itself beside Bucky, changed its size to match his flesh side and then displayed itself in front of Bucky’s face.

The model was sleek, slender and resembling his flesh side much better. The plating looked fluid instead of jagged, delicate finger joints and slim appendages.

“Oh my god, Tony,” Bucky breathed, hands coming up to hover over the display.

“It’ll be lighter, and uh… more feeling,” he said faux-casual.

“Tony this is…” Bucky had no words. 

“Too much?” he asked with a laugh, “Yeah, probably should have asked first, but it’s fine, it hasn’t been fabricated or anything yet, just an idea really,” he flicked the image away.

Bucky turned to him, swung a leg over and straddled him, kissing him hard, trying to relay Bucky’s happiness, his gratitude, his admiration for his alpha.

“It’s perfect, I love it,” he whispered, excited.

Tony blinked, and then smiled back at him, bright and happy.

Then, “Wait, why can’t I have it now?” Bucky asked, pouting.

“Can’t put you under anesthetic with the baby,” he said, “You actually like it?” he said, still shocked.

“I love it, Tony,” he said, firm.

“Oh,” he said, something like amazement in his eyes.

Bucky kissed him again, and three more time after that.

“You’re amazing,” Bucky told him for good measure, “thank you, alpha”.

Bucky kissed his alpha for a long while, but kept it gentle, sleepy and sweet. After a while, he remembered what they were doing.

Grinning, Bucky got up, “Jarvis and I collaborated on your gift,” he said, “I’ll be right back, it’s in my—” he paused, the spare room in the loft wasn’t really _his_ room anymore, was it? “the other room,” he finished with a smile.

Bucky was really nervous about his gift. It was nothing compared to what Tony had done for him, building Bucky a new arm, one that didn’t make his frame look so large and hulking. Bucky recalled making a comment to Tony after they had ended up knotted together on the couch during Bucky’s first heat, about his prosthetic being too big, about needing a smaller one. Tony had obviously listened, the arm… it was beautiful.

The omega part of Bucky was absolutely preening from the affection. Having his alpha build him something so beautiful and know that it would become a part of Bucky’s body. His alpha making Bucky beautiful in the process of providing him this necessity.

Bucky had noticed there was a lack of red star or Stark Industries logo on the shoulder, he considered maybe asking Tony to add the ‘STARK’ somewhere on the arm before it was built. He liked the idea now, even though he had shot Tony down in the past when he’d tried to replace the star.

Bucky’s own gift to Tony had partly been Jarvis’s idea. Bucky had taken up a bit of woodworking in his free time, alongside his comic book collecting –both hobbies funded mostly by Tony himself, at least after Steve and Bucky broke up (though Tony had bought him some very expensive collectible comics for the last two of his birthdays). He’d decided that the best thing to gift a billionaire was something home-made, and had started brainstorming with Jarvis on what he could carve for the eccentric alpha.

When Jarvis had suggested a picture frame, Bucky recalled the photo of Pepper and Rhodey on his nightstand, and thought maybe he’d make a new frame for it, but then Jarvis had suggested they go through the AI’s files and find a new photo, since there were so few in the penthouse.

That’s when Bucky had come across Jarvis’s namesake.

He hadn’t known Jarvis had been based on a real person, and had immediately wanted to know more about the man that Tony admired so much.

Jarvis gave him as much information as he could, and then Bucky had gone to Tony, asking simple questions to suss out more information.

“Ana and Edwin Jarvis?” Tony had asked, when Bucky had mentioned it, “Where’d you hear of them?”.

Bucky had shrugged, “Jarvis mentioned he had a predecessor,” was all Bucky had said.

The alpha bought it, luckily Bucky wasn’t hooked up to a heart monitor this time.

“They uh, raised me,” he said, distantly. They were in the workshop, Tony soldering some delicate part around the empty circle that housed the arc reactor in the suit.

Bucky was surprised to hear him say it, though Bucky had already suspected that might have been the case from the little information AI Jarvis could supply –and of course, from the photo he’d found.

There were people who believed that a person’s scent when they reached maturity had something to do with important memories from their upbringing.

Bucky hadn’t really believed those myths until he saw the photo.

When Bucky asked for more information, Tony had given it far more willingly then he ever gave up information about his father.

“Jarvis—that’s uh, Mr. Jarvis,” he began, “was my dads version of Happy, his driver, butler, security combo man,” he told Bucky with a small smile, not looking away from his work, “I spent a lot of time at their house, growing up—more time than I spent at home, really,” his voice was quiet, expression content. “Ana was from Hungary, Jewish and uh, Jarvis got himself in trouble getting her to America,” he said, “My dad helped them out, it was the only good thing my dad ever really did,” he had said.

“The Jarvis’s were really good people,” he said, smiling.

“Thank you for telling me about them,” Bucky had said.

Tony shrugged, “Thanks for listening to be ramble,” he said.

Bucky was really drawn to the photo he’d found, and eventually decided to take the risk and make it a part of Tony’s Christmas gift. In fact, he’d carved the picture frame to compliment the photo to the best of his ability.

There were things from Tony’s childhood that Bucky didn’t feel comfortable talking about. Didn’t feel like he had any right to ask about. But this? Ana and Edwin, he felt like it was safe.

It wasn’t like Howard, who had done terrible things to Tony. It wasn’t like Maria, who Bucky had killed.

No, Mr. and Mrs. Jarvis was something from Tony’s past that the alpha still smiled about, and who Tony seemed to _enjoy_ telling Bucky about.

He really hoped his gift was okay, though.

He was treated to the sight of a half naked Tony Stark upon his return, shirtless with nothing but a strategically placed sheet around his waist.

Bucky had to shake his head to clear the thoughts of all that exposed skin.

“So, Jarvis helped me finding the photo, and uh, I made the frame… It’s not great but uh, here—” he handed over the picture frame that he’d done his best to carve with little seashells and seaweed, then stained in a mossy green varnish.

The photo was of the late Mr. and Mrs. Jarvis, and a tiny toddler Tony Stark at the beach. Mr. Jarvis tall and lanky and awkward in his swimming shorts and undershirt but smiling brightly. Mrs. Jarvis, a beautiful red head with a white and green stripped swimsuit, a hand ruffling Tony’s dark tuffs of hair. The three of them standing next to an impressive sandcastle, Tony with a red tin bucket and shovel in his hands.

“You’ve talked about them, and uh… I thought, maybe you’d like to be a little sentimental just this once,” Bucky mumbled.

Tony didn’t say anything at first, and Bucky couldn’t tell if that was a good thing, or a bad thing.

Finally, he spoke, “I don’t…” Tony took the frame in both hands, holding gently like it might shatter, “I didn’t even know this existed,” he breathed.

“Is this okay?” Bucky asked, nervous.

“More than okay, Bucky,” Tony said, voice soft and oh so vulnerable, in a way Tony guarded so carefully, “Thank you,” he said, “Thank you _both_ ,” he gave a watery smile to Bucky, and to Jarvis’s camera.

It was a good Christmas.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! :)
> 
> I'm not updating as often because the last chapter turned into two so I want to make sure everything flows nice before uploading! Hope you like it!


	13. Thirteen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony and Bucky may have forgotten that Tony is still the media's favourite billionaire philanthropist, but that's alright, Bucky knows how to handle this a hell of a lot better than he knows how to handle Steve.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was supposed to the the last chapter, but then I wanted to add like... six more things and so this is just filler.  
> Also, have some slightly-remorseful Loki!

It seemed like the decrease in world ending activity really was just a Christmas miracle, since there hadn’t been a call to assemble for a week leading up to the holiday, but there was one immediately afterwards.

Tony was suiting up, Bucky was biting his lip because this felt… Not _wrong_. But not exactly _right_ yet, either. He still hadn’t fully wrapped his head around the fact that this was all real.

His baby. Tony’s baby. Their mating bond.

It all felt so surreal, that it seemed silly that Bucky wasn’t going to fight, too.

But he didn’t feel overly bad about not fighting, either.

“Kiss me for good luck,” Tony grinned, looming over him in the armour.

Bucky rolled his eyes, getting up on his toes to press a kiss to his alpha’s lips.

It wasn’t until the battle against some more (you guessed it) doombots was being reported on the news, and he was watching the team finishing their cleanup from the same point of view as the rest of the world was watching, that Bucky realized they had made a grave mistake.

Tony and Bucky had told the team, all their friends… but they hadn’t tackled the _media_ yet.

So when Bucky was smiling and rolling his eyes at his mate on TV, who was dancing the ‘robot’ for a group of nearly traumatised schoolchildren, he wasn’t even thinking that there was anything wrong with Tony flipping the helmet of his suit back to shoot a charming smile at the group before getting back to work.

Until the news headline changed.

‘Alpha Bachelor Tony Stark Mating Mark?’

And then the speculation started, the battle against Doom completely forgotten in the face of Tony Starks love life.

And then the photos of Pepper started.

It’s like no one had even noticed that the Winter Soldier hadn’t shown up to the fight.

It wasn’t like he was jealous. Pepper was a good person, and Bucky liked Pepper. Tony had so few people in his life that cared about him so his relationship with Pepper and Rhodes was not something Bucky could ever begrudge his mate.

Still… It hurt that no one outside the tower seemed to have even considered the possibility of Bucky and Tony.

Well… he could fix that.

Bucky tied his hair up, even though he didn’t need to for Tony’s mark to be visible, it would show that Steve’s was gone for anyone who hadn’t believed the news stories three months ago. He had dark grey skinny jeans on because they made his ass look great and he had been trying to get laid before the call to assemble came, and so he changed out his t-shirt for a v-neck just for good measure and grabbed his navy blue bomber jacket. He wasn’t wearing tac gear, and he wanted that to be obvious. He all but stalked out of the tower.

The battle was only a few blocks away, and when he arrived, the team blissfully unaware of the media scandal Tony was causing, they were all grumbling to each other, lobbying broken robots into a dump truck.

“Hey lazy-ass!” Clint called, “You come to help with the easy part?”.

Bucky walked straight through the reporters taking up the perimeter and stepped easily past SHIELD’s police line.

“Nope, still retired, birdbrain!” he called back.

Steve shot a sharp look at Bucky, but he chose to ignore that just like all the other looks Steve had been sending.

When Tony saw him, Bucky suddenly felt nervous. Maybe his alpha would think he was being clingy. He hadn’t really thought this through. Maybe Pepper had a plan and Bucky had completely messed it up.

But then Tony smiled, bright and genuine. The alpha walking over to where Bucky was kicking rocks with his shoe, hands in his pockets. Bucky could feel nothing but happiness and a faint body-tired coming from their bond and allowed himself to smile back.

“What are you doing here?” he asked, still smiling, “this isn’t a place for a pretty little omega like yourself,” he leered, teasing.

Tony was in his space, towering over him in the suit again, and Bucky couldn’t help but want to grin, even as he pouted, reaching up and traced the mark he’d left on his mate.

“The TV said it was Pepper’s,” he said, giving Tony his best puppy-dog eyes.

Tony looked surprised for a second, then barked a laugh, “Oh no,” he said, “we can’t have that, can we?” he grinned.

Bucky grinned back, mischievous, “No, alpha,” he said loudly, “we can’t have that,” he agreed.

Tony rolled his eyes, leaned down and kissed him right there in front of six different reporters.

Bucky felt delightfully _owned_ after that, especially when Tony scooped him up and set him on top of a SHIELD van, hovering in the air long enough to give Bucky another kiss.

“You’re retired, can’t cross the police line,” Tony reprimanded with a smirk.

Bucky rolled his eyes and stayed put, eventually getting a nearby SHIELD agent to pass him a chunk of broken asphalt, which he then broke pieces off with his metal hand and tossed at the Avengers every time they made a comment about him not working.

“I mean, you _could_ be helping,” Nat rolled her eyes.

“Nope, Tony said stay here,” he smiled, smug, “besides, I’m pregnant,” he reminded.

He broke off another piece of asphalt and hit Clint directly in the back of the head, then pointed at Natasha when the archer turned around.

Clint jokingly aimed his bow at Bucky, though there was no arrow notched.

Still, Tony butted in, “I’ll snap you and the bow in half,” he said lightly.

Clint gulped, strapping his bow back into its holster.

Bucky laughed, then tossed another piece at Tony. The alpha batted it away, the rock landing somewhere near Steve, who glared.

Bucky rolled his eyes, tossed another piece of rock a little harder in Steve’s direction and hit the blonde in the shoulder.

When he glared this time Bucky glared back, “Oops, I missed,” he said, deadpan.

Bucky never missed.

Steve turned his back on Bucky.

“Jerk,” Bucky grumbled under his breath, sure Steve could hear it.

The alpha didn’t respond.

After that, Bucky shouldn’t have been that surprised at Steve’s next move.

A few days later, Natasha came to the penthouse with an expression of a blank mask.

“Steve’s moving to DC,” she said, unprompted and emotionless.

Bucky blinked in disbelief.

Then he blinked back tears because she was _serious_.

“Good for him,” Bucky got out minutes, maybe hours too late to sound natural.

Steve never came to tell Bucky himself.

Sam showed up, made a half-assed joke about stealing Bucky’s man and his job, but it fell flat, and he excused himself not long after, sensing his humour was ill-received.

Bucky felt Steve’s absence in the coming months, even as he felt elated with his pregnancy. The blonde had been in Washington for more than two months, avoiding Bucky. He still showed up when the call to assemble came, now with Sam in tow, Bucky’s replacement, but he was never around long enough to risk bumping into Bucky –not that Bucky wanted him to.

The other Avengers were around a lot, though. Laura and Clint were spending a lot of time at the tower, bringing the kids. Bucky loved it, loved Laura for doing it. Laura was only two weeks ahead of him in her pregnancy, so there was an extra layer to their solidarity.

She was such a help for Bucky, just like Clint was a help to Tony, in figuring out how to do… well _everything_.

Without Laura, Bucky’s sure he’d have completely lost his cool the first time he felt the baby move. Thankfully, she had explained what to look for and what was completely normal and not panic worthy in great detail.

Bucky and Tony were in the workshop going over modifications to Bucky’s soon to be arm, when it happened.

Bucky had thought it was just his stomach doing something funky at first –all his organs did weird things now. Then it happened again, and he pressed his hand to his swollen belly.

His belly pushed _back_.

“Tony,” he gasped.

Tony swiveled to look at him, concern etched into his face and fear spiking through their bond at Bucky’s hands on his bump.

Bucky grinned, immediately putting his alpha at ease, “Tony, Tony gimmie your hand,” he said quickly.

Eyes widening with excitement, Tony swiped the bit of grease off on his jeans and Bucky lifted his shirt for the man to touch him.

Tony’s palm was warm and firm, the same as it always was, cradling Bucky’s swelling belly.

Bucky felt the flutter, the pressure, again.

“Oh,” Tony breathed, “well hey there, bambino,” he whispered, leaning down to press a kiss to the wiggling little bean, “is this the part where you start driving daddy crazy sticking your feet in his kidneys?” he teased.

Bucky felt tears collecting in his eyes.

“Don’t tell him, but I really hope it is,” Tony whispered conspiringly.

Bucky laughed, feeling tears spill over his cheeks.

Tony whispered into his belly until the baby had settled again, and with a final kiss to the bump, scooted back to look up at Bucky with joy and pride.

Bucky started laughing.

There on his pale and stretched skin, was a greasy black handprint. Tony had only wiped one clean, and he’d been elbow deep in an old car before they’d switched gears to look at Bucky’s arm.

“Oh, I’m going to have two restless grease monkeys running around my house now, aren’t I?” he sighed happily.

Tony smiled back, goofy and jovial. “We’ll have to double the cleaning staff,” Tony grinned.

He had Jarvis take a photo, and then framed it himself for the wall in the nursery.

Another week and Bucky was headed to yet another doctor appointment. Tony was in a mission debrief that should have ended twenty minutes ago, so Bucky decided to go retrieve his mate himself.

Bucky didn’t need Tony for the appointment, but he figured his alpha would welcome the excuse to get out of listening to Fury drone on any longer.

Bucky didn’t have the same hang ups about telling Fury where to shove his rules and regulations.

Steve wasn’t there, Bucky had checked before hand, but Loki was.

“Ah, Barnes” he said, “I had wondered when I would see you next,” he smiled sharp, “You look well,” and that almost sounded sincere. Almost human.

“Uh, thanks?” he said, awkward.

“I have another gift for you,” he said, grinning.

“Oh, hell no,” Bucky said, “Fuck that, thanks,” he started backing away.

He was done with Loki’s ‘gifts’ thank you very, very much.

“Relax, it isn’t a spell,” he said, laughing. With a flick of his wrist he pulled something from the pocket dimension that usually provided him with daggers and other weapons.

He pulled forth something that resembled a baby rattle, but it was flat but with a ring-shaped handle which was made of what looked like real gold and engraved with symbols Bucky knew were not of this realm. The top looked to be made of some kind of firm, emerald green leather.

“What is that?” Bucky found himself asking, even as he reached out and took the offered item.

“I believe on Midgard it is call a ‘teething toy’” the God said with obvious disdain for the word.

Bucky blinked in disbelief.

Surely the God of Lies was not giving Bucky a baby gift…

“This is from Jotunhiem, of course,” he said, because yes, of course it was, “but the concept is similar, and this will be far more effective then anything from this realm,” he informed, “the leather is infused with several healing oils of the _non-magical_ variety” he smiled at Tony, “it works quiet well in my experience, and Fenrir had far more teeth than your mortal offspring,” he added to Bucky and then disappeared in a dramatic flash of green before anyone could say anything.

Tony immediately turned to Thor for help.

“What my brother says is true” he said, “Jotun ‘teething toys’, as you so call them, are renowned across the nine,” he said, “Especially after they were proven to sooth the young Fenrir,”.

“Wait, Loki has kids?” Clint asked.

Thor’s look of pride at his brothers act of kindness diminished, “Ill fate has taken all but one of my brother’s children,” he said, sullen, “even Hel, who rules a realm of her own, has suffered greatly and needlessly” Thor said.

Bucky looked down at the toy. It looked like a teething toy, the right shape and size. The right texture of the leather—it felt like the silicon ones Tony and Bucky had bought already.

“Tell Loki we said thanks next time you see him, Thor,” Bucky said, earnest.

He looked at his mate, “Now come on, we’re late,” he said to Tony.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to say thank you for everyone who's been reading and commenting and leaving kudos! It means a lot!!! :) You guys have been great! I totally expected there to be way more people who didn't like how I portray Steve in this to comment and be rude, but so far there has been very little push back and I'm so glad! 
> 
> I don't reply to all the comments, but please know I'm reading them all with a smile on my face! :)
> 
> I also want to say, while I won't personally respond to any negative opinions on the characters or the ship of the story (tags are clearly listed), I appreciate those who did come to the defense of this ship and I love that that is was done maturely. <3
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	14. Fourteen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So much is right in Tony and Bucky's world. There is just one thing out of alignment, and no one's sure it every really will be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promised that Steve was redeemable, though I get the impression no one actually cares if he is at this point. Anyway, alas, Steve goes to therapy and the whole world's better for it.
> 
> Imagine Civil War but if Steve had seen a therapist like... two times. Whole different movie.

Laura and Bucky had decided on a joint ‘baby shower’ because neither really needed anything, with Tony’s spending (and building) habits and this being Laura’s fourth baby, there wasn’t much left for them to need.

It was really just an excuse to get all their friends together to gush over their bellies.

Bucky had invited Steve and Sam. Of course, he had.

He just hadn’t expected Steve to show up.

Naturally, Bucky had fallen asleep on the couch before people had started arriving and had missed Steve’s entrance entirely.

He woke to Tony’s scent, feeling a trail of kisses from his puffed out bellybutton to his lips.

“Rise and shine, bambino, Frosty,” Tony whispered.

Bucky made a noise of displeasure, “No, do not rise and shine, bambino, I’d like to go another twenty minutes without needing to piss,” he grumbled, but kissed Tony anyway.

“Steve’s here,” Tony whispered, and yeah, now that he said that, Bucky could smell the other alpha nearby.

Bucky was immediately nervous, a little excited, and a lot pissed.

Because Bucky could hear Steve in the kitchen, talking to Clint and Laura and not acknowledging Bucky at all.

Then the anger turned to hurt.

“That’s nice,” Bucky said, “he hasn’t seen Laura since Christmas,” he kept his voice calm and even.

It didn’t matter, Tony could tell. The alpha pressed a kiss to his forehead, “don’t think that’s why he’s here, babe,” Tony said, not unkindly.

Tony didn’t let Steve’s words get to him. After that first day, hearing Steve admit that he hated Tony, didn’t think he was a good alpha for Bucky and then bringing up Howard, Bucky would have thought it would be more of an issue.

It wasn’t.

That made it worse, somehow. After the initial hurt at finding out Steve’s opinion of him, Tony just shrugged it off, like it was normal, like it was expected.

It didn’t affect the team, Nat said. Tony acted like he hadn’t heard a word of what was said, and Steve let him, the two alphas pretending nothing was amiss between them at all.

It made Bucky that much more angry.

Bucky let Tony pull him to his feet. Bucky’s stomach was getting pretty big, now six months into his pregnancy and barely able to wear normal jeans despite how much he tried. His t-shirt was pulled taught around the swell, his pectorals had begun to soften considerably though not to the point of being noticeable to anyone but Tony, who couldn’t keep his hands off them during sex.

The alpha couldn’t keep his hands to himself at all, really. Ever. He had his arm around Bucky’s waist, hand splayed over the side of his belly as he all but pulled Bucky over to where Steve was sporting an impressively scruffy beard in the kitchen helping Clint with the vegetable tray.

Steve nearly dropped the whole thing on the floor when he saw Bucky and Tony approach.

It further soured his mood.

Bucky knew he looked… different.

He didn’t need Steve to point it out.

“Bucky…” Steve said in a rush, “Oh,” he breathed, eyes falling to his swollen middle.

It was the first time since the day Bucky had surprised Tony and the media showing up after the battle, Steve ignoring his existence entirely, that he was seeing Steve.

“Hi,” was all Bucky could say.

“You look…” and he made an aborted movement closer, “great, you look…” and his eyes moved back up to Bucky’s face, “beautiful,” he whispered, almost as if to himself.

Bucky felt his face heat, but it did nothing to quell his sour mood. All it did was add confusion to the sea of emotions Bucky was trying to sort through right now. The last they spoke, Steve was fully against Bucky’s choice about the baby. Now he thought Bucky looked beautiful at nearly six months pregnant? It didn’t make much sense.

“Uh, thanks,” he mumbled. Then, “You look like shit,” he blurted, because it was true. Steve’s unshaven face was scruffy, he had bags under his eyes from lack of sleep. The last time he’d looked so disheveled was when he was hunting down Bucky across the planet after the fall of Hydra.

Steve blinked, then chuckled, scratching at the scruff of his face, “Yeah, I guess I do, don’t I?”.

“Glad someone could say it,” Clint mumbled, “Hey Tony, come show me that baby-gate thing you made,” Clint asked, but there was no question in his voice.

Tony shot Bucky a quick look, asking permission even though he obviously wanted Bucky and Steve to talk, had insisted they invite him, had been the one to let the man into their home. Bucky gave a small nod, accepted the quick kiss from his alpha before he walked away.

He was alone with Steve.

“So,” Steve said lightly, “Tony’s really found his calling with all the…” he motioned to the living room, Tony’s creations for Laura and Clint.

Bucky snorted, “You should see the nursery,” he chuckled.

Surprisingly, Steve’s face lit up, “Can I?” he asked, sincere.

“Oh,” Bucky said, shocked.

It would give them a private place to talk, and Bucky would be more comfortable, less quick to escalate the conversation when surrounded by his baby’s things.

He couldn’t help feeling nervous. He wasn’t afraid of Steve, and he never really was, but without the bond, Bucky didn’t feel that pull to submit and cower when Steve got angry anymore, didn’t find his aggression scary. He knew Steve wouldn’t move to hurt him, knew he’d stop him if he did, knew Jarvis would interfere, that Tony would.

“Yeah, sure” and he nodded to the stairs “It’s not done, but it’s getting there,” he said, leading the way up to the loft.

The nursery was Bucky’s old room, and they still made sure to spend a lot of time in here so the scent wouldn’t fade. The baby would sleep in the bassinet in Tony and Bucky’s room for the first weeks, but after that, their little one would still have the comforting scent of their parents surrounding them in sleep.

The glass wall looking out over the city was misted white with patterns of spring wildflowers, Jarvis had made that decision himself and Bucky and Tony named the AI godfather right then and there. They’d carried Jarvis’ idea and painted the pale green walls with the pattern in yellow and white. Tony had let Bucky put pale oak wooden paneling around the bottom edge of the room to give it a more vintage feel. It matched the circa 1930’s oak rocking chair that Tony had found and paid way too much money for because it looked like the one Bucky’s own mother had when he was young. Tony had gone as far as to design a crib that resembled the white painted iron of both their childhoods, but that was more child safe than anything they could have bought. He was in the process of creating a changing table that matched, too and it was in pieces in the corner.

There was a little day bed opposite the crib, ruffled pillows and stuffed bears on the pale green and yellow quilt, next to it was a tall white bookshelf of toys and books from Whinnie the Pooh to advanced robotics. This is where Bucky and Tony would scoop their little toddler up and read them to sleep, where Bucky would lay watching the little one in play and crawl around on the floor, Tony’s forcefield playpen encircling the curious little babe safely in the center of the room. The rocking chair, with that plush yellow blanket Tony had bought all those months ago draped over the back was where Bucky would sit and rock them to sleep against his breast.

“Here we are,” he said, awkward.

He looked over at Steve, hovering in the doorway as Bucky moved inside.

Steve looked around, sniffed the room, caught sight of the photo Bucky had framed a from a few weeks ago, Tony’s greasy handprint over Bucky’s belly.

He saw Steve’s mouth quirk up in a near smile.

“It’s nice, Buck,” Steve said, voice soft.

Bucky just shrugged.

“Why are you here, Steve?” he asked, voice flat.

Steve hunched in on himself, “I just…” he trailed off, “I wanted to tell you I’m sorry,” he whispered.

Because Bucky hadn’t heard that before.

Bristling, he replied, “Apologize to Tony,” like he had said all those times before. Steve never did. Never would. Steve was the same stubborn, self righteous—Steve was nodding, agreeing.

“I know, I will, I promise” he said it like he expected it, like he had a plan for once. That was the part of the Captain America propaganda Bucky had always disputed. Steve never had a plan. It looked like he might have one now though, much to Bucky’s surprise. “I just wanted to talk to you first, I—” he took a deep breath, “I’m going the therapy,” he said like it was being pulled from his lungs against his will.

“that’s…” shocking, “great, Steve,” Bucky replied.

Steve had always refused therapy, even when Bucky was made to go several times a week for a year, then once a week for another year, and now biweekly –not that Bucky minded. He went willingly now. But Steve had always refused that for himself, even when he needed to convince Bucky to go, even when he asked Sam to convince Bucky to go.

It was about time Sam roped Steve into taking care of himself, Bucky thought.

Steve nodded, “I went because I couldn’t…” he rubbed his face, “I couldn’t figure out why I wasn’t just _happy for you_ like everyone else”.

That was Bucky’s question too. Christmas dinner, surrounded by their friends, being hugged and congratulated by everyone who came in the door, all the while Steve glared daggers in his back. It hurt in the worst way imaginable because Steve was his _best friend_. He really needed, no, _wanted_ , Steve around, in his baby’s life, sharing moments like Bucky did with Clint’s kids and Steve _hated his mate_.

Hated Bucky’s family.

Steve had always been Bucky’s family and now…

Bucky turned away from him, trailed his hand over the blanket on the rocker, “Thought it’s ‘cause you hate my mate,” Bucky mumbled. Steve had made that pretty clear.

“I don’t,” Steve said, confident, “I don’t hate Tony, he’s… he’s good to you, I see that now” he said, “I should have always seen that,” he admitted.

Bucky thought he might be hearing things. Silly things, like Steve Rogers admitting he was wrong about something.

Bucky didn’t trust himself to say anything. Didn’t trust he’d even heard that right.

“The first time I met him…” his voice was barely a barely there whisper, he cleared his throat, Bucky glanced back at him. He had his eyes on the photo again, “The first time I met Tony I thought… I thought it wasn’t fair that he was here, alive, and you weren’t because… because the second I saw him I knew you would have _loved him_ ” Steve voice strained, fist at his side.

Bucky turned his back to him again.

He had something of a point.

Bucky had been immediately enamoured by Tony Stark, and then after getting to know him, Bucky had been enamoured by _Tony._ Quite the opposite of Howard Stark, who Bucky had thought was just the neatest, but upon meeting thought he was a complete asshole.

Tony was all creative energy and motion, fast talking and confident self-made superhero—all things that made Bucky’s knees weak since he first discovered his own dick. Then, Tony was all gentle kindness wrapped up in exaggerated gifts, paragraph long ramblings, and smirking smiles. Yeah, anyone who knew the sci-fi and comic loving Bucky Barnes would have known, he was well and truly fucked when it came to _not_ falling for Tony.

“I hated him for it,” Steve said voice normal, “I hated that Howard wasn’t him, because maybe if that was it… you’d have been safe, and he could have protected you back then when I couldn’t,” Steve gritted out, “That’s all I could think… was how unfair it was that he was here instead of back there saving you,” and his voice sounded strangled, “After a while I couldn’t find anything about him that didn’t make me think of you,”

“Then I found out you were alive this whole time, killed his—” he didn’t say the words, “and I was so angry. Angry at Hydra and angry at him. I was angry because shouldn’t he have known?” he spat that last part, “Tony should have known it was a hit and not an accident, he could have found you if he’d just… just,” Bucky didn’t want to let him finish, not that it sounded like he knew what to say. Bucky had always known that Steve had adjusted to the new century without Bucky poorly, but this… this was a whole new level of maladjustment.

“He was a kid,” Bucky whispered, “he was a kid who was orphaned with a million-dollar company, Steve. He was an eighteen-year-old kid,” Bucky said. This was such a ridiculous line of thinking that it made such perfect sense that it was Steve who was having it.

“I never said it was rational thinking,” Steve laughed, self-deprecating and like he might be recognizing his own baggage for the first time in, well, _ever_. “I had this expectation that he’d have saved you if you two had met during the war, before we mated,” he whispered, “It was… a coping thing, I guess, but then you were alive and it was _real_ ” Steve shrugged this great, awkward hunch of his frame, “but he failed,” Steve said softly, “he didn’t save you, didn’t protect you, then he was so good to you and I thought, ‘no, he failed, he doesn’t get that now’ and couldn’t let it go, forgot that you were on the other end of this, suffering without him too”.

Bucky sat down in the rocking chair, pulled the blanket to his chest.

“That’s bullshit,” Bucky said, voice calm and emotionless.

Steve nodded, “Yeah, it is,” he agreed.

Silence settled around them, Bucky refused to open his mouth and turn this into another fight.

“He’s going to be an amazing dad, Bucky,” Steve said after a while.

It made Bucky’s blood boil, “Shut up, you don’t get to say shit like that,” he seethed, quiet and barely there.

“You’re going to be an amazing dad,” Steve went on, earnest, “I’ve never seen you this happy” Steve said, voice open and honest.

Because Bucky had never _been_ this happy. There was so much going right in his life right now… except for the one thing that wasn’t.

“I’d be happier if my best friend wasn’t a complete asshole,” Bucky grumbled.

Steve smiled, “I’m still your best friend?” he said, sounding hopeful.

Bucky tossed the blanket at him, “Of course you are, punk,” he said, truthfully.

“Jerk,” Steve replied, then, “Oh, this is _soft_ ,” he muttered.

Bucky snorted, “Tony picked it out,” he said.

“Matches the room,”

“Room matches the blanket, actually,” he said and at Steve’s raised brow, “long story”.

Steve came fully into the room, sat across from Bucky on the day bed, hesitant and nervous.

Just like that… things between them seemed to settle back into some semblance of normal. Normal before the war, before the serum, before… before they had mated. This feeling reminded Bucky of life before Steve and Bucky had been mates.

Bucky stood and walked over, plunked himself down right next to him.

He nodded at the photo that kept drawing Steve’s eye, “Was a few weeks ago, the first time the baby kicked,” he said.

Steve’s eyed widened, “The baby… oh wow,” he said, mystified, eyes on Bucky’s belly.

The baby had been pretty active since Steve and Bucky came into the nursery, picking up on Bucky’s moodiness. His baby was going to be sensitive, he could tell –just like Tony pretended not to be.

“Gimmie your hand,” Bucky directed.

Steve’s hand was shaking, staring at Bucky with awe and confusion.

Bucky placed Steve hand over his belly, the baby’s favourite place to dig their little toes in.

“Oh my god,” Steve whispered.

Bucky laughed, “Yeah,” he agreed.

He heard Tony’s footsteps down the hall, but Steve was too distracted with the baby’s kicks to notice.

Tony stopped in the doorway, unsure if he was welcome and not daring interrupt the moment. Bucky motioned him in.

Steve seemed to notice Tony then and he jerked away as if burned, cheeks flushing pink in embarrassment, like he had been caught doing something he wasn’t supposed to be.

“Hey,” Tony said gentle, “little bean up and active?” he asked with a smile.

“Always,” Bucky sighed.

Tony ignored Steve and came in to deliver a kiss to Bucky’s belly “hey bambino,” then to Bucky, “hey baby” and then, a small and pinched smile, “Steve,” he didn’t sound unkind.

“The baby was kicking,” Steve said in reply.

Tony snorted a laugh, “yeah, likes meeting new people, don’t you bean?” he said to Bucky’s belly.

“New,” Steve said frowning, “I guess that’s true, isn’t it?” he asked, sadly.

Bucky didn’t feel bad, “you’ve been in DC almost three months, Steve,” he pointed out.

Steve’s shoulders hunched, “how uh,” he tried, “how far along…?” he asked. Of course, he didn’t know.

“Almost six months,” Tony answered.

Steve blinked, “Congratulations,” he said with a small smile aimed at Tony, “You must be excited,” he said.

“More than you can imagine,” Tony said, honestly.

Steve nodded, “I believe that,” a little sadly.

There was one final thing that needed to happen for things to really be ‘ _okay_ ’, for Bucky to accept Steve’s apology, for Bucky to welcome Steve around his growing family.

‘Apologize to Tony,’

How many times had he made that demand? This was the last time. Steve had to do this. If he didn’t… then he’d know that this Steve had been so buried by his trauma that the man Bucky had ran around with on the grimy streets of Brooklyn was well and truly gone.

“You two need to talk, and I need to pee again,” Bucky said, scooting to the edge on the bed to stand, Tony instinctively offering him a hand. Bucky batted it away. He was not that big. Yet.

Neither looked happy about it, Tony cautious and unsure, Steve filled with nervous energy. Bucky closed the door to give them privacy.

“Jarvis, keep an eye on them, okay?” He said once outside.

“Of course, sir,” Jarvis replied.

***Tony***

“I owe you an apology,” Steve really went for the sore spots, didn’t he?

Tony shook his head, “No you don’t,” he said, voice light, “you and Bucky made up, that’s all you needed to do, Cap, That’s all that matters” he insisted.

Tony wanted this over with fast.

He expected Steve to nod. Let him have this. Steve wasn’t Bucky, it’s not like Steve could tell—

“No, I shouldn’t have said what I did,” Steve insisted right back, “I didn’t mean what I said, either,” he said.

“It’s fine, Steve—” Tony was smiling.

“It’s not,” he argued. “You’re not Howard, you’re nothing like Howard,” he said.

Tony’s smile tightened, felt the sting those words left, “Yeah, cap,” Tony said, “I got it, we done?”.

“Bucky hated Howard,” Steve said. Which Tony knew, and loved, but that wasn’t really important right now.

“I know,” Tony said. If they could just get to the point…

“Howard was short with him, snapped at him, didn’t like to explain things—he knew he was the smartest guy in the room, didn’t bother to show it… Bucky didn’t like not having all the information. Didn’t like Howard shoving a gun at him and saying ‘just point and shoot’, he likes knowing how things work… like you. Bucky is like you.” Steve rambled, and wow, that was more than he’d said to Tony in months.

“When I met you, I knew he would have liked you, so I… hated that about you, you reminded me of Bucky and Bucky was g _one_ because I dragged him into a fight he shouldn’t have had to fight” Steve said, “I convinced myself that if you had been there instead of your father, Bucky would have been safe,” he said, “I got over it after a while, learned to move on a little—but then Bucky was _alive_ ,”

“Steve, buddy,” Tony heard himself saying, “I’m all for taking responsibility, like –dangerously so—but that…” he motioned to Steve and his aura of emotional baggage, “is not my fault,” and it felt good to say that.

Felt even better to believe it.

Bucky made Tony believe all kinds of stupid, wonderful things.

Steve nodded, “I know, I know it’s not” he said. “You’re a good mate to Bucky, and,” he took a breath, “you’re going to be an amazing dad,” he said.

“Right” Tony said, “Sure thing, Cap,” he said.

“I know you can protect them,” Steve’s earnestly often hurt, but this… this was a different kind of hurt.

Tony couldn’t help the vulnerability from showing through in that moment, “You really believe that, cap?” he asked, all fake smiles that he knew made Steve uncomfortable because of the ease Tony could lie. Through his expressions, his words, his scent. It was different now, keeping his scent from showing through now that it was so different, now that Bucky’s scent was mixed in his own.

“I do, Tony,” Steve said in the painfully earnest way of his.

Tony was long since past needing Captain America’s approval, but Steve Rogers? This was his mates best friend.

“If you ever lay a hand on him,” Tony said, casual, “I’ll kill you, and burry you alongside all the rest of my dad’s failed projects,” he said, calmly, “but, I’m glad you two made up, and I’m…” Tony cleared his throat, “I’m glad uh, you realized I’m clearly the superior alpha,” he added.

Surprisingly, Steve didn’t rise to the bait.

The other alpha chuckled, “Me too,” he said simply, “me too,” he said and dropped a heavy hand onto Tony’s shoulder.

Tony felt his mouth quirk up in a smile. A real smile for the guy, maybe for the first time since he met Steve.

“Hey Steve?” Tony asked.

“Yeah?” he replied.

“Bucky’s sister, Rebecca,” Tony said, “Her crib, it had this rabbit and some flowers painted on the end,” he said.

Steve’s eyes widened, “Uh,” he cleared his throat, “yeah, it uh, looked just like that one,” he gestured to the crib Tony built.

“Yeah, I know,” Tony said, “I can’t find a picture of it,” he admitted, “You got a photographic memory, don’t you?”

“Yeah, yeah I do,”

“Think you could paint it?” Tony heard himself ask, “for Bucky?” he added.

Was this an olive branch? Bucky was turning Tony into a _nice person_ , oh god.

“No, Tony,” Steve said, “I’ll paint it for you,” he smiled.

Tony snorted, “Aw geez, cap,” he said, “Now you’re just being sappy,” he grinned.

Tony thought maybe things… things were better now that they weren’t just pretending.

Tony really hoped the version of Captain America that his baby grew up seeing was better than the version Tony had grown up seeing.

No, he thought, Tony really hoped the version of _Steve Rogers_ was better than the version Tony had known. Hoped his baby would get to meet Bucky’s best friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was originally going to be the end of the story, but I've added one more chapter of pregnant Bucky fluff (and smut) and an epilogue of meeting the baby!!!!
> 
> Do we think it's a boy or a girl? Alpha, beta, or omega???? Any idea? Bucky hints about what he thinks in the next chapter while they pick out some names! :)


	15. Chapter Fifteen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Photo's are taken, names are chosen, a question is not quite asked, and a baby is born.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my god, this took sooo long. I'm sorry, it's basically been finished for weeks and I kept putting off the editing holy shit.

***Tony***

“Hey Baby,” Tony called, coming back into the penthouse from the latest mission debrief.

Odd, he thought, kicking off his shoes, Bucky wasn’t downstairs. Usually he’s chomping at the bit waiting to ambush Fury’s longwinded rants, timing the twenty minutes the director is entitled to before he’s dragging Tony home.

When his mate didn’t call out from somewhere in the penthouse, Tony’s brow furrowed in confusion.

“Jarvis, where’s Buck?” he asked, not letting himself panic. The house still had his omega’s scent, pregnant, happy, and content.

“In the nursery,” replied his AI, “asleep, sir,” he added.

Tony felt himself relax.

“Thanks, Jay,”

He couldn’t help but be that much more protective right now, Bucky in his last trimester and reduced mostly to waddling from place to place. He was a strong omega, and Tony tried his best not to be completely over-protective all the time, but Bucky seemed to accept that the next few months were going to be a little harder for the alpha. It helped that Bucky typically liked Tony’s protectiveness, unless he was having a particularly bad day. Those days Tony was banished to the workshop, content to give his mate space knowing Jarvis was looking over his omega and growing baby.

When Tony made his way up to the nursery, he was treated to the sight of Bucky, asleep and snoring gently in his rocking chair.

Tony paused in the doorway to take in the image of his beautiful mate.

The yellow blanket that Tony had bought so impulsively what felt like a lifetime ago was draped over Bucky’s shoulder, and the omega’s face pressed to the soft fabric. He was wearing a white t-shirt, stretched taught over the large swell of the baby inside him, and Bucky’s hands were folded in his lap, cradling his belly.

Balanced on the rounded surface of their growing pup was the tiniest pair of socks either of them had ever seen.

The socks…

Tony’s not sure when exactly he fell in love with Bucky Barnes, but Christ… those socks had a lot to do with it.

“Jay, take a picture, would you?” Tony said softly.

“Already have, sir,” his AI replied quietly.

Tony smiled, “Thanks buddy”.

Tony came into the room then, kneeling in front of his sleeping omega.

He couldn’t help but pick up those little socks, stuck them on his fingers the way Bucky had in his car the day he’d left Steve, and walked his fingers across his mate’s belly.

“Hey bambino,” he whispered, “did you and daddy have a good day?” he asked, pressing a kiss to Bucky’s bellybutton. “Papa hope’s so,” he said, “you’re going to be a good baby and come out right on time, aren’t you?” he whispered, smiling, “’cause I can’t wait to be the one to hold you for once,” he laughed quietly, “your daddy is getting pretty tired, you know” he said, “just six more weeks, okay? I can’t wait to meet you,” he rambled.

“Tha’ would be nice,” Bucky mumbled around a yawn.

Tony grinned up at him, “Mornin’ sunshine,” he teased.

Bucky cracked an eye open, “No, let me sleep,” he mumbled, but he was smiling, toothy and wide.

When Tony had shown Bucky the photo Jarvis had taken, he asked Bucky to make a frame for it, and his mate reluctantly did so. Rolling his eyes because the photo made him look like all he did was sleep. Tony loved the picture so much, he brought it down into the workshop and set it up near his most used workbench.

A week later Jarvis had taken to displaying the digital version of the picture in the corner of whatever screen Tony was working off every time Tony started getting too lost in a project. It was a reminder of what he had waiting for him, a reminder he barely needed, but appreciated nonetheless.

***Bucky***

Bucky couldn’t help the smile on his face when he sighed awake, listening to his alpha’s ramblings into his belly, he cracked an eye and saw Tony’s adoring face, the softness in his features that seemed to appear more and more throughout Bucky’s pregnancy.

He was in his last trimester.

Bucky could admit that he was… struggling.

He was just so _huge_ , and _useless_ because of it.

He slept all the time, could barely exercise, and when he did manage to get his steps in, his feet would swell and he’d spend the next hour complaining while Tony gently massaged them.

The only thing that kept him from completely falling apart was how much Tony seemed to _love_ it.

As far as Bucky could tell, Tony’s compliments and lavished attention was completely genuine, which Bucky really shouldn’t find surprising, all things considered.

“Can we have another one?” Tony asked one day when Bucky was moody as hell and had kicked Tony out of the penthouse and banished him to the workshop (twice) only to demand he get his ass back upstairs an hour later.

The alpha took it all in stride.

So far, Tony hadn’t gotten lost in a single engineering binge since they had mated. His alpha returned home every night, happy to see him at the end of every day. He still brought the odd project upstairs with him, but he only worked on them when Bucky inevitably fell asleep after dinner every night.

“Another one?” Bucky asked incredulous, “Baby? Another baby?” he clarified, ready to tell Tony that _he_ could be the one to carry the next one, if he wanted another little devil after this, but then he looked down at his alpha and abruptly changed his tune.

They were lying in bed, Bucky on his back and propped up on all the pillows they had while Tony was laying on his side, head on his arm and face level with Bucky’s enlarged middle. Tony had a hand on his belly, warm and soothing the restless baby inside, and his face was the picture of _happiness_.

He had a small smile on his face, though he was maybe trying to hide it, sensing Bucky’s bitter mood, but his eyes were so soft, and there was no way to hide that. He looked so much younger in that moment, wide eyed, happy and so _excited_. There was a certain nervousness to him as well. His alpha terrified he wouldn’t be a good dad no matter what Bucky said. He’d accepted that Tony wouldn’t believe Bucky until the baby arrived, but he was happy to remind him every time he wasn’t reminding Tony how Bucky was still able to waddle his ass over there to _kill_ his alpha is he didn’t stop fidgeting.

Tony was going to be an amazing father, Bucky was sure. The genius had thrown himself into the field of parenting like it was thermonuclear astrophysics.

But it didn’t matter if Tony spent eight or eighty hours reading about parenting (it was seventy-six hours, nearly exactly Jarvis had said), Bucky knew Tony would be a good dad because Tony _wanted_ to be a good dad.

It also helped that his alpha always got what he wanted, so long as Bucky was there to make sure of it.

And no, it wasn’t weird that Bucky had bitten off Fury’s head last week for making some snide remark about Tony and trying to deny his paternity leave when Bucky was in ear shot. Omega’s were protective of their mates, too. Besides, Bucky wasn’t ‘just’ an omega anyway (by this he meant he was a world renowned assassin and Fury was not immortal no matter how he behaved).

Looking at Tony now, who had the same amount of nervous excitement and apprehension on his face as he always did no matter how many times Bucky snapped at him, Bucky felt himself smile.

“If we can settle on a name for this one before I fall asleep, we can have another one,” he agreed.

They had been procrastinating the naming process, waiting for a day when Bucky wasn’t quiet so emotional, but it was becoming apparent that day wasn’t coming any time soon. It also hadn’t felt right, for either of them, to sit down and browse a list of random names. No, whatever they picked would definitely have significance.

Tony’s face got impossibly brighter and he leaned forward to press a kiss to Bucky’s belly.

“Are you hoping for a boy or a girl?” Tony asked for the hundredth time.

“Just hoping it’s yours,” he teased.

Tony gave a half-hearted little growl and let his teeth show, “Mine,” he said.

Bucky sighed happily, “Yes, alpha, all yours,” he said, grinning.

Tony gave a content little growling purr, and peppered kisses across Bucky’s belly.

“Are _you_ hoping for a girl or a boy?” this time it was Bucky who asked.

Tony smirked, “Just hoping it’s mine,” he teased back.

Bucky rolled his eyes, “Uh huh,” he said.

“I’m just saying, if there’s a little blondie in there…”

Bucky smacked him with a pillow. Not funny. Very not funny.

“What about after your mom?” Tony suggested after he was done cackling.

“Winifred?” he asked, “Way too old,” he said with a cringe. “What about your…” he trailed off, not really sure he wanted to say it.

“Too Italian,” he said, casually and dismissing the idea, much to Bucky’s relief.

They didn’t need that reminder.

“What about after Pepper?” Bucky asked, “I don’t even know her real name,” Bucky recalled.

“Virginia,” he said, “could be a middle name, I think she’d like that,” Tony grinned.

Bucky smiled. That would be nice.

“What about Rebecca?” Tony asked, biting his lip.

Bucky thought about that.

Rebecca had been the oldest of his sisters, and the one he got to spend the most time with before the war. He missed her dearly and had loved her fiercely, the same way he already loved his baby with his whole heart.

“I… I like that,” he said with a smile. “Rebecca Virginia,” he agreed, “For a girl”.

“What about for a boy?” Tony asked.

“Hmm,” Bucky thought, “Nothing too alpha-ey,” he said, “I don’t think it’s an alpha,” he said for the millionth time.

Tony rolled his eyes, “You keep saying that, but there’s no science behind it,” he said, shaking his head. He was smiling though, and so was Bucky.

“Have you met Nate?” he said, sarcastic, “omega, no arguments,” he pointed out.

Tony chuckled, “You don’t know for sure,” though the argument was weak.

“I do,” Bucky said with conviction, “It’s instincts,” he said proud.

Tony rolled his eyes, “Okay, nothing too alpha-ey,” he agreed.

“Steve,” Bucky said again with a giggle, “not too alpha-ey at all,” he joked.

“Hilarious,” Tony laughed along, “but over my dead body,” he said, serious.

It made Bucky giggle some more.

“Something not alpha-ey,” Tony mumbled to himself, “Clint? Fuck no, we’d never hear the end of that, George?” he asked, “that was your dads name, right?”

“Pa was an alpha,” Bucky pointed out.

“Really?” Tony asked, “Wasn’t your mom a beta?”.

“Yep,” Bucky said.

“What happened to you, then?” he teased.

It was unusual for an alpha and a beta to have an omega child. Usually it was only omega’s that had more omega’s, and occasionally two beta’s had an omega. Bucky had been unexpected, especially when he grew to be so tall and broad. His mom was the only one who hadn’t been completely blown away when he presented. Steve was the most shocked.

“I live to break expectations,” he smiled.

Tony hummed, scooting down on the bed and laying down to kiss him, “Live to make babies, I’d say,” he whispered, hotly.

Bucky rolled his eyes, “You’re not getting laid until this baby has a name,” he scolded, kissing Tony lightly.

His alpha pouted, but then smiled, “I guess I can live with that, since I already got you knocked up with my pup,” he said, voice low.

“Is this revenge for the no alpha names, rule?” Bucky laughed.

“Being extra alpha-ey? Oh, one-hundred-percent it is,” he grinned sharply.

Bucky sighed at his alpha, “Names,” he reminded.

Tony kissed him again, hard and hot and then withdrew, leaving Bucky panting.

“Parker?” Tony said, voice completely level, though with dark eyes and kiss bitten lips.

Taking a second to glare at Tony, which didn’t work because he couldn’t stop smiling, he finally replied, “Way too omega,” voice clear of his arousal.

Tony raised a brow, “So the baby’s a beta?”

“No,” he grinned.

Tony rolled his eyes, “What about James?” he asked.

Bucky scrunched up his face, “I don’t have a big enough ego,” he said, that was a little much.

Tony laughed, “After Rhodey,” he corrected.

“Middle name? keep the theme?” Bucky suggested.

“I like that,” Tony said, “So how about the first?”.

“Edwin,” Bucky said after a while of staring at the photo of Ana and Edwin on the bookshelf in their bedroom.

Tony frowned, “No, no… this is your baby too, and you never even met Jarvis,” he said.

“I’ve met this Jarvis, and he’s the godfather of our baby,” Bucky pointed out.

“You want to name your baby… after my A.I?” Tony asked, sounding skeptic.

“I want to name _our_ baby after _our_ friend,” he corrected.

He glanced up at a nearby camera, smiling to himself. Jarvis, the AI that is, was the first important person in Tony’s life that had accepted Bucky and had approved of him wholeheartedly. That day, the anniversary of Tony’s parents’ deaths… It could have been the night that whatever spark that had been blossoming between them had gone out. It could have been the night that Bucky put distance between them. That Tony put distance between them. That night had been such a turning point, and it was Jarvis who had helped them.

Jarvis, Tony’s child in his own right and their friend.

“Edwin, Eddie for short,” Bucky went on, “Eddie James,” he said confidently.

“That’s suspiciously omega, but I like it,” Tony agreed after a long while.

“What about the last name?” Bucky asked. That wasn’t something they’d talked about yet.

They weren’t technically married. They were mated, which was far more binding both physically and legally than a marriage, but it still left the conversation of last name open for discussion.

Typically, an alpha would propose marriage and the mating would take place on the wedding night, followed by marathon breeding sex, then moving in together.

For Bucky and Tony… it was kind of ass backwards. Moving in together, marathon breeding sex, pregnancy, then mating.

It wasn’t exactly unheard of though, and he damn well wasn’t ashamed of the way things had turned out.

Oddly, Tony seemed to grin at the question.

His alpha reached under the bed and grabbed at something and when he looked back at Bucky, he had a nervous look on his face. That barely contained excitement that was still undoubtfully plagued by self-doubt.

“Tony?” Bucky asked with apprehension in his voice.

“I uh,” Tony cleared his throat, sitting up on his knees, “I uh, had an idea about that,” he said, smiling shyly.

“Okay, well what is it?” Bucky asked, still concerned with the sudden change in demeanour.

Until Tony pulled whatever he had reached for from behind his back.

A small box.

Bucky’s heart skipped a beat as his alpha opened it.

Inside, nestled on a velvet pillow was a glimmering red metal band with a shining white diamond in the center.

A wedding band.

“Oh my God,” Bucky gasped.

“Will you—” Tony started, only for Bucky to cut him off completely.

“ _Yes_ ” Bucky interrupted, “Yes, Tony, oh my God, you gigantic sap!” he laughed, “We’re already mated you dummy!” he cried with a smile.

“That’s no way to talk to your husband, Mr. Stark,” Tony grinned.

“My apologies, Dr. Stark,” Bucky replied cheekily.

Moving in together, marathon breeding sex, pregnancy, mating, then marriage.

Bucky couldn’t be more proud.

***

In the end, Tony’s request of their baby to come on time was not headed. In fact, their baby came three days early on June 20th, 2017. The last day of _spring_.

He was beautiful.

Their baby was beautiful.

“Edwin James Stark,” he whispered reverent.

“Eddie,” Tony’s voice was soft and it broke with a crack, “that’s our baby,” he whispered, like this was surprising, like he wasn’t at all prepared for what he was feeling, what he was seeing.

Bucky could agree.

He had never loved anything quite so much and quite so hard. The moment he held his baby, slow wiggling arms and legs bundled against his chest, he was _in love_.

He looked up at Tony, tears in his alpha’s eyes suddenly spilling over his cheek, “You’re so beautiful,” he cried, smiling.

Emotions bubbled in his chest, “Tony,” Bucky rasped, “Come hold your son,” he whispered.

Tony was shaking like leaf, but the moment his fingers brushed over the back of a tiny curled fist, his hands steadied, and when his alpha held their baby to his own chest, there was a steely sort of resolve.

“I love you _so much_ ,” he whispered to the little bundle in his arms, his voice was reverent but stern, like he needed their baby to understand and remember this fact forever, “you here me?” he whispered, softer, “so much it hurts,” he went on and then he was smiling so bright and happy it put every other smile Bucky had ever seen to shame.

There was an emotion coming through their bond, and it felt identical to this feeling that Bucky knew was his own, together, it felt like a feedback loop of love for their child and he never, ever wanted it to end. He’s not sure it ever could.

***

“Mwah,” Bucky said, pressing a kiss to his wiggling baby’s chest, right over his tiny little heart, “Now stay still you little bean,” he laughed.

Dressing his baby was _hard_.

So many tiny little limbs reaching out.

He was only four days old, but he was strong, and he was growing fast.

Super-soldier serum.

They expected it though, and Eddie was healthy and perfect and wiggly.

Bucky loved it all.

Tony handed him the next sock with a smile.

Bucky had also recovered from labour fast, and he regained his own strength within a day. The doctor said his body would be back to normal months sooner than a regular male omega, which meant he’d have plenty of energy for his excitable little bundle of joy.

There was the concern that Bucky wouldn’t be able to breast feed often enough, or for long enough as his body recovered from pregnancy so fast, but it appeared the serum wasn’t repairing everything quite so fast. In fact, the serum seemed to be helping Bucky provide his hungry little one with sufficient nutrition even for a tiny super-baby.

Eddie would never see a battlefield, not if Tony and Bucky could help it (and they could), so his baby, as enhanced as he seemed to be, was just… super.

Really super, Bucky thought with a smile.

Bucky wrestled the sock onto Eddies foot, then took a step back to let Tony swaddle him up in his yellow blanket.

Eddie had dark hair, so much of it even at four days old. His lashes, dark like Tony’s. His eyes, too, were Tony through and through, just a single shade lighter for now. His face was a chubby wrinkled ball of adorable and it made Bucky’s heart clench with love.

Eddie waved his tiny fists around, managed to grab his socked foot between his two hands and blink slowly up at his daddies, laying on the hospital changing table with the soft yellow blanket beneath him.

Little yellow and green socks, for a little baby businessperson.

Or, Bucky thought, for their son.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoy!
> 
> Next is the epilogue where you get a few little snap shots of the fam!


	16. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Having kids wasn’t easy, but Tony’s and Bucky’s lives had never been easy. They wouldn't change a damn thing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we are!!!! Finally!!!!!
> 
> Thank you to everyone who read and left kudos and comments! It's been great!
> 
> Enjoy getting to know Bucky and Tony as parents through the first few years!

Bucky was warm, pleasantly so. He had his alpha at his back, the sun was streaming in the frosted glass of the windows. Big warm hands were covering his belly, just like they always were even a year after their baby had been born. He had his fingers running gently through dark curls, silky soft and light. His son. He was stroking his fingers through his sleeping son’s hair. Eddie was all dark lashes and chubby features, and was curled against his chest, snoring softly, just a year old.

He pressed a kiss to his hair.

And then another, and another.

Because this wasn’t an awful dream, and it wasn’t going to turn into his ma’s kitchen.

***

“Bruce,” Bucky said, “can you do something for me, and not tell Tony?” he asked, shifting Eddie on his hip for the full force of their combined puppy dog eyes.

Bruce gave him a look, “depends on what that is,” he said slowly.

“I need a pregnancy test,” he said, blushing.

Bruce blinked, “for… you?” he asked.

Bucky just nodded.

“That’s… have you gone into heat already?” He asked.

Bucky’s face felt very warm, so he focused on wiping the drool from Eddie’s face, and nodded briefly.

He was surprised too.

He shouldn’t have, by most standards, have had a heat already. He’s had three.

He was a male omega, and he was naturally breastfeeding. He shouldn’t be ovulating at all, let alone for the last three months. Tony and Bucky just assumed they were pseudo-heats, making up for lost time.

After last night… Bucky just had a feeling about it.

After Bruce agreed, and Bucky had dutifully peed in a cup, he took Eddie to see Tony in the workshop.

Bucky was nervous when Bruce called them back a while later. It was so soon after Eddie to be pregnant again. Of course, they both talked about having a big family, but what if Tony wasn’t ready? Could they handle two little ones still so close together? He tried not to let himself get worked up. This was probably in his head. He had no reason to suspect he could be pregnant again.

“Just daddy being silly, right Eddie?” he said, peppering his chubby cheeks in kisses.

“I don’t know how it’s possible, but the test came back positive, Bucky,” Bruce said with a warm smile.

Bucky needed to sit down.

He looked at Eddie, who smiled back at him with more drool running down his chin.

“Well,” he said, “guess daddy’s not so silly, huh?” he laughed, nervous.

He held Eddie up by the armpits and let him jump for a while, “Da, da, da,” he kept saying.

“He’s going to be thrilled,” Bruce rolled his eyes, “don’t think for one second he wont be,” he smiled, “now get out of here, that baby is too cute and I have work to do”.

He was breastfeeding Eddie when Tony came home.

“You look beautiful like that,” he said, smiling softly.

It helped ease Bucky’s mind.

That evening, with Eddie having settled into sleep, Jarvis watching over as always, Bucky decided to rip the band-aid right off.

“Tony…” he said, voice weak.

Concern immediately crossed Tony’s face.

Hurry up, he told himself. Now Tony was worried and that would make this much worse on both of them.

“I’m, uh, I’m pregnant,” he said softly, biting his lip.

Tony didn’t hesitate at all, “ _Yes_ ,” Tony breathed, “Oh my god,” he whispered, “Yes, yes, yes” he growled and _picked Bucky up_.

He squeaked, “How the hell!” he exclaimed.

“Not a super-soldier anymore,” Tony grinned, plopping him down on the counter, “more like a super-omega, oh my god, baby,” Tony breathed into his throat, “you’re serious?” he asked.

“Six weeks,” he grinned.

So maybe it was okay.

***

“Eddie,” Bucky said sternly. Or tried too. It was hard, since he was smiling, “What are you doing in Papa’s clothes?”.

“I gotta make sure you and Papa can find me at Nate’s birfday party,” he said, burrowing further into the head of laundry.

Bucky’s stifled a laugh, “Oh?” he said, “you don’t think we could find you? You smell like both of us already, little bean,” he said.

“I gotta smell like Papa the way you do, daddy,” he said, muffled, “then I can kick uncle Thor’s butt,” he reasoned.

“You need Papa to scent you to kick uncle Thors butt?” he repeated.

“That’s what you do, daddy,” he said, “Papa told me so,” he said, in that all knowing way of his.

Bucky blinked, and then starting laughing, “Oh, my little bean,” he sighed. “Jarvis, get Tony, please,” he said between giggles.

“I’s not funny, daddy,” said the ball of laundry, “I’s very ‘portant before butt kicking,” he said, “you know that,” he said sagely.

“What _are_ you two doing?” Tony asked with barely contained laughter.

“Eddie, why don’t you explain to Papa this very important and not funny thing?”

“I gotta smell like Papa before I can kick uncle Thor’s butt!” he said, sassy.

Tony blinked.

“Oh,” he said, and then started smiling, “Of course you do, bambino,” he said, “come out, and I’ll give you some cuddles,” he said.

Eddie crawled out with a beaming gap toothed smile, his long and curly hair standing up with static. He still refused to cut it, unless it was a trim, _just like his daddy_.

Eddie curled up against Tony’s chest and buried his face in his papa’s neck.

“That’s a very smart strategy,” Tony said, “Daddy uses it all the time,” he informed.

“I’m going to be just like daddy when I’m big,” Eddie said.

Tony looked at Bucky, who smiled back with smug satisfaction.

“Yes you are, Eddie,” Tony said into his hair, then mouthed silently to Bucky ‘No Science’ even as he pressed his forehead against the back of Eddie’s neck, rubbing his scent against their omega son.

“Now, let’s go kick uncle Thor’s butt,” Bucky smiled.

***

“Rebecca Virginia Stark!” Bucky growled.

“I’m not saying sorry!” his daughter exclaimed, stomping her foot.

Bucky ran a hand through his hair.

She _hit_ someone. She hit _Lila_. His five-year-old daughter punched a thirteen-year-old alpha _in the face_.

He wanted to blame Steve, somehow.

“Watch the attitude, little miss,” Tony said, a hint of that alpha tone in his voice.

She was strong, maybe stronger than Eddie who was almost seven now. Both his kids enhanced. They had to make sure they knew they couldn’t hit people.

God, she’d nearly broken Lila’s nose! There was blood.

“No!” she yelled back.

Her eyes.

Her eyes shifted _red_.

“Oh,” Bucky gasped.

He felt Tony’s hand gripping his.

It lasted less then a second, really. Though it was long enough for Bucky to memorize the pale, pale red that seeped into the bright icy blue of his daughter’s eyes.

“Becca,” Tony said, softly, “I’m going to go check on your brother, okay?” he said, “he’s pretty upset,” he added, tone soft and non-threatening. Shifting her focus from Lila to her brother, easing her temper.

Becca’s face fell, “is Eddie okay?” she asked.

Tony nodded, “I’ll make sure of it,” he promised, “Can you tell Daddy what happened while I’m gone?” he asked, “Eddie’s not making much sense,” he added.

Which was a bit of a lie, Eddie was upset—but he wasn’t blubbering or crying too hard, he just seemed confused and him and Kate had taken off for Nate’s blanket fort as soon as Becca had let her little fist fly.

Becca nodded quickly, and Tony gave Bucky a meaningful look, but failed to mask the absolute pride in his eyes.

“Honey?” Bucky said to her, “Come here, let me see your hand,” he said.

She tossed herself into his lap, “I sorry for yelling at you, daddy,” she said softly, curling up against him, “I’m sorry Eddie and Kate got scared,” she said next, “did I hurt Lila?” she asked.

Bucky nodded, “A little bit, yeah, sweetheart,” he said honestly.

She nodded, “not sorry,” she grumbled.

“You need to tell me why,” he said, and shifted her in his arms until her face was near his throat, calming her with his scent.

“She’s bad,” she said.

“Did she do something?” he asked, slowly.

She nodded.

“Tell me, please, honey,” he asked.

“She was bullying Kate, and, and, and then Eddie tried to yell at her, but she, she, she made her eyes red and scared Eddie, and I… I was so mad!” she started crying, “I still mad!” she cried.

“Oh honey,” Bucky said, and held her tighter, “I know, that must be so frustrating,” he said, “when Eddie gets scared that’s really hard for everyone, sweetie,” he said, “Even I’m a little mad,” he told her, “but when you hit Lila, instead of telling her to stop, or getting uncle Clint or auntie Laura, you made Eddie scared too,” he said gently.

“I didn’t mean to!” she cried.

“I know, I know,” he rocked her, “and it’s okay, baby,” he whispered, “but now you know that hitting doesn’t make anyone feel better, right?” he said.

She nodded, “Yeah,” she sighed.

“Lila is an alpha, now,” he explained, “which is scary for her, and it’s hard for her to control sometimes,” he went on, “but I’m sure she’s getting in trouble now too,” he assured.

She shrugged, but he could tell she was happy to know she wasn’t the only one getting a talking to.

“Let’s go see how Papa and your brother are doing, okay? You won’t be so mad when you can give Eddie a big hug, I promise,” he said.

“You promise?” she asked.

“Works for Papa,” he smiled, “hugs are always the best medicine,” he said into her hair.

When he took her upstairs to Nate’s room, where the two will-be omegas were camping out, Laura stopped them to give Becca a plate of cookies to gift the cuddle puddle. She accepted the plate, nodding in understanding of her task.

Becca knocked on the door, “Can I come in?” she asked, politely.

There was a pause, “Okay,” called Nate.

Nate was ten now and was starting to show those tell-tale signs of his designation that appeared in the year or two before puberty. Namely, the soon-to-be omega (because they all called it years ago) had starting nesting. It meant his room had been turned mostly into an omega or neutral only zone. Roughly translating to: Cooper and Lila stay out. Kate, being Eddies age, had no signs of her designation yet, not like Eddie and now Becca, who seemed to be presenting their designations very early. Tony was sitting just outside the blanket fort, his hand outstretched for Eddie to hold.

“I have cookies,” she said quietly, “and daddy,” she offered.

Tony smiled, Bucky rolled his eyes. He was apparently a bargaining chip.

There was some whispering from inside the fort.

“You can come in,” Eddie said, “but you have to cuddle me,” he added.

Becca nodded, “That’s why I’m here,” she agreed, dutiful.

***

Having kids wasn’t easy, but Tony’s and Bucky’s lives had never been easy.

That night, as they lay in bed, Bucky turned to his alpha, and said, “Three more,” in a quiet, but meaningful voice.

“Oh god,” Tony practically moaned.

“Best get busy,” Bucky smirked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's all folks! :)
> 
> This wraps up my very first posted works!!!
> 
> I hope you all enjoyed it!
> 
> Now what?! I love this ship so much, and there's never enough of it! What have you guys been missing and wanting more of?


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